A Rock's Tail
by BlueEternal
Summary: Neglect and shame are the perfect recipe for thorns to grip one's heart. This is the story of the legendary Rocktail, the cat of the Dark Forest. And this isn't happening on Earth; it is a place called Feran, dominated by animals and watched over by gods. See what happens to this little innocence to make her become a massive corruption. (T for violence; my first story!)
1. Prologue

Announcements: I will try to update the story... every week? Two weeks? I don't know, depends on the motivation ^3^ I know the story is young, but it'll grow to be a MASSIVE FANTASY STORY. Like, literally. You'll die from the amount of shet I put in here.  
If I only upload one chapter, it'll probably be a long one. Two chapters because they're medium, and three for just because I love you. X"3  
Key  
Normal  
_Thoughts_  
_[ : ]_ = Camera movement  
" : " = Quotations... Duh.  
**:blah **= Author's note  
[*InsertStrangeSymbolHere] = Mid-note, see matching symbol in description for explanation

* * *

"General!"  
A golden lioness with ocean blue markings padded around the blue illuminated building. She pricked her ears flattened her wings against her flanks to walk through the narrow hallway.  
"What is it?" her firm voice echoed across a wide room, shaped like an octagon. She was in the room called the "Seed Room", where all the descendants were created and shaped-physically, mentally, and emotionally.  
"It's Seed R52680394298..." a lion stood, his mane a silvery dust color, studying a floating feline body in a tube glowing with soft, blue light, "... It's having issues."  
"Seed R52680394298... Subject 7... Wait a minute... That's the Creator reincarnation seed..." the golden lioness furrowed her brows, narrowing her eyes at the slowly revolving figure.  
"Indeed."  
"Well, tell me what's wrong with it, Lenard!" The lioness said impatiently, with a dash off venom in her voice.  
Lenard widened his eyes, "There seems to be a virus in Subject 7's system... And it targetted the seed and... corrupted it." He struggled out the word.  
"WHAT?!" The lioness roared, shaking the octagon room. Her wings stretched out threateningly, "Who is responsible?!"  
"A virus called DARK105..." Lenard replied.  
"DARK... 105..." The goddess murmured, calming down, "...Darkius."  
"What?" Lenard knitted brows, puzzled.  
"Contact Commander X immediately. Tell her to come over here." the goddess ordered.  
A black wolf with blood red markings entered, her dragon wings close to her side.  
"Commander." the goddess dipped her head.  
"General." the wolf returned the greeting, "You called?"  
"Yes..." The golden lioness replied, "My creator's seed... It's corrupted."  
The wolf goddess widened her eyes, "What? Don't they know the creator is in that seed?"  
The lioness gave a small chuckle, "Apparently so. I've called to see if your creator's seed has been corrupted."  
"My creator is safe in the reincarnation seed. It has not been harmed." the wolf goddess replied.  
The golden lioness sighed, "At least I know one is safe."  
"Who was the mastermind behind the corruption phase?"  
"A virus named DARK105."  
"Darkius." The two said in unison. The golden lioness's claws dug into the metal floor, the room temperature swooped down.  
"Don't be so pessimistic." the wolf goddess spread her wings to let warmth fill the room once more, "Descendants are strong. Whatever Darkius planned for the seed, it'll come through; with my creator's help."  
The lioness sighed, "I hope you are right..."  
"When have I ever let you down?"

_[Black fadeout, fade into a black wolf with purple glowing eyes, sitting on a throne.]_  
"The first attack..." It chuckled, "Succeeds."


	2. Chapter 1 & Chapter 2

Chapter 1: Preparations  
**CHAPTER ONE! MY GAWD, THAT TOOK A LOT OF WORK. WOO. -pants- Feels like running a mile. Anyway, this is where it all starts, remember, I am not referencing off of ANYTHING, this all exploded from my mind, no part of this was planned, so Imma go with da flo.**  
Announcements: None really owo  
Key  
Normal  
_Thoughts_  
"_LOL_" = Change of voice tone (usually deeper)  
_[ : ]_ = Camera movement  
" : " = Quotations... Duh.  
** :blah **= Author's note  
* * * = TIME WARP  
- ~*~ - = Flashback Start/Stop  
[*InsertStrangeSymbolHere] = Mid-note, see matching symbol in description for explanation. Recommended that upon sight, scroll down to description.

* * *

Talia yawned and stretched. She sleepily looked out of her box, only to be returned with the harsh glare of the morning sun. She closed her eyes.  
"You awake?" A grunt sounded beside the box.  
"Yeah..." Talia replied, stepping out, facing her grandfather.  
He was a brown cat with pale underfur, his age lines resemble a crow's foot. Although she never knew his name, she calls him grandpa.  
"You ready to go to Learning?" He grunted again, standing up.  
"... No..." Talia sat down, her tail making the dust fly out. [*]  
"Why not?" Grandpa replied, his eyes questioning Talia's.  
"I don't feel up to it." Talia answered, studying her paws.  
Her grandpa sighed, laying down, "Whatever suits you."  
Talia sighed, "When's grandma coming?" Talia missed her grandma. _Grandma is the most wonderful cat in the world... She gives me food, she gives me everything!_ [^] Talia thought excitedly.  
"Soon. She should be arriving in the afternoon." Grandpa grunted, got up, and padded to his box behind Talia's.  
"Okay." Talia flicked her tail as she heard her grandpa already fast asleep, snoring away.  
She chuckled, and took a look at her abode.  
It isn't really an abode to be honest. It was an abadoned junkyard. _Funny, a place of abandoned things... abandoned._ Food was scarce. Real scarce. But Talia's grandma lived in the Big Alleys, the major homes of major cats. Plenty of food, health, and wealth. Talia batted a fly in front of her face with her paw.  
In Talia's box was a 'blanket', a soft floor for animals, Talia guessed. Before the blanket, Talia had trouble sleeping because the box was just too rough. Grandma had brought it back from her journey to the Big Alleys, and after that, Talia was sleeping smoothly.  
Talia sighed._ No use waiting like this. If I'm not gonna go Learning, then might as well sleep._ She shrugged, and cuddled once again in her box, enjoying the scent of the blanket until she finally fell asleep.

* * *

"Guess who's here?" a warm voice echoed in Talia's ear.  
She lifted her neck up to see her grandma's familiar face, smiling.  
"Grandma!" Talia bolted up, no longer feeling sleepy. She nuzzled against the elder's legs.  
"My, you sure look happy to see me." She chuckled, nuzzling Talia back.  
"Of course!" Talia grinned, "So, how was your trip to the Big Alleys?"  
"Don't lie to me, Talia, I know you only want the presents." Grandma purred.  
Talia excitedly lashed her tail.  
"There's really no presents... But I brought plenty of food." She jerked her head to a bag behind her.  
Talia pouted, "Well, that's second best!"  
Grandma chuckled, "Where's your grandpa?"  
"He's..." Talia bounced around her box, finding grandpa to be in the exact spot, only his back is to the cats, "...Still sleeping."  
"I see." Grandma purred, "Where's your cousin?"  
"Uhm... She's out of school now... so... I guess at home." Talia shrugged.  
"Well, why don't we invite her over? Let's get her to eat our share."  
Talia sighed, "Fine..."  
She turned and took long strides to her Cousin's alley. It was near, so Talia didn't have to worry about getting lost.  
Once she arrived, she called out her cousin's name, and the two was on their way back to Talia's junkyard.  
"We're... here..." Talia panted and pretended to collapse onto the dirt.  
"Hello, grandma!" Her cousin smiled, as if nothing happened.  
"Cheerful as ever I see, Nicole." Talia's grandma chuckled, "I brought food from the Big Alleys."  
Nicole's eyes widened, "Great! Can I eat?"  
"Of course. That's what Talia invited you over for."  
Nicole was a dark gray cat, her pelt seperated by lighter stripes. Her eyes were a little bit like Talia's, except it was darker.  
Nicole and Talia knelt down to lap up the food made by the Two-Legs. It was delicious, considering how long they had waited.  
"Now, now, save some for the future." Grandma purred, but didn't do anything, "How's Aunt Bell?"  
"My mother? She's doing great. The winter season is fast approaching, so mice is treasured." Nicole answered, her mouth full, nudging Talia to stop eating. Talia blinked and gulped down the last piece of food in her mouth.  
"I'm glad to be hearing that." Grandma sighed, "Now, you two play while I need to get some rest. A sleepless journey can have effects on some cats." She purred, and went into Talia's box.  
Talia and Nicole immediately swung their heads to each other and smiled deviously.  
Nicole leapt on top of a tall pile. She lifted her chin and tail, assuming the royalty position.  
"Queen Talia," Nicole lifted a brow, "What brings you here?" [$]  
"I want to talk about... some things," Talia imitated Nicole.  
"Oh?" Nicole leapt down to face Talia threateningly, "And what are these... things?"  
"Your alley cats..." Talia gave it a moment to be intense, then whipped her head around to avoid Nicole's gaze-in a dramatic way, "they were on my land."  
"What? That cannot be!" Nicole gasped, paw over mouth, "My cats would never do such a thing!"  
"Are you calling me a liar?" Talia challenged, taking a pawstep forward.  
"The question is," Nicole mimicked Talia's behavior, "Are _you_ calling _me_ a liar?"  
Talia growled and roared, pouncing onto Nicole.  
Nicole was surprised but smirked and stretched out her two hind legs. That flung Talia out like a ball[ ], and Talia landed on her side with an "Oof!"  
Nicole quickly took advantage and towered over Talia. Talia tried to struggle out but Nicole put a paw on her throat.  
"It wasn't the Sun Alley that killed your father, Talia." Nicole leaned down, her mouth right next to Talia's ear, "I killed him."  
"Talia!" a firm voice shouted behind them. It was low, and definitely a tom's.  
Nicole quickly got off Talia, and Talia sat up straight, squirming to see the interferer.  
He was tall and a bit muscular the typical athletic tom. Gray pelt, white stripes showered down from his shoulder to his hind paws. His eyes were teal, and he had hair to his left. Talia remembered seeing him but...  
"What is it..." Grandma wiped her eyes with her paw and immediately widened them when she saw the tom, "Be right there." She swung around to Talia and Nicole, "Wake Grandfather and tell him to follow me."  
Nicole nodded and bounced off to do so. In a few seconds, grandpa was walking past them, murmuring under his breath.  
"I wonder what's happening..." Talia cocked her head to the side. [&]  
"Well, whatever it is, I have to go." Nicole shrugged.  
"What? Why?!" Talia groaned in defiance, "But we haven't finished the roleplay!"  
"Sorry, but grandpa said so." Nicole sighed and licked Talia's forehead, "See ya."  
"Bye." Talia said in melacholy as she watched Nicole's figure fade.  
Talia looked at Grandma and grandpa talking with the tom. Grandma was frantically moving her mouth while grandpa just... sat there.  
_Whatever they were talking about... Grandma seems freaked out_, Talia observed.  
"Talia..." Grandma called.  
"C-Coming!" Talia had a moment's hesitation.  
Talia padded timidly between grandma and grandpa, feeling the tom's heated gaze on her.  
"This tom... He is your brother... Half-brother." Grandma started explaining, "His name's Tony, and he's going to take you away to somewhere where you can meet your mother and father."  
Talia's eyes widened, "My half-brother... I have a sibling!" Talia excitedly mewed, "You're coming with me, right, Grandma?"  
Grandma said nothing. Tears started to flow out of grandma's eyes. She looked down at her paws. [#]  
"Grandma?" Talia padded closer, "You're coming... right?"  
"Let's go. We mustn't waste time." Tony said impatiently and picked up Talia by the scruff.  
"Grandma? GRANDMA!" Talia struggled under the tom's grasp, "LET ME GO!" She screamed, tears flooding her eyes, making everything blurry. "GRANDMA!"

* * *

Talia opened her eyes. _I must've fallen asleep..._  
She took a couple of glances at her surrounding environment. It wasn't her junkyard.  
The nest that she had been sleeping in was called a "coconut tree leaf". Grandma had brought that from one of her expeditions...  
"Ah, you're awake." a voice sounded.  
Talia looked up to see another tom with brown eyes and a golden pelt. Brown spots rained on his pelt and he had a long tail for his age. He was a little bit younger than Talia, from appearances, though.  
"Mother Anna wanted me to escort you to talk with her."  
Before Talia could even ask who was Mother Anna, once again, a voice interrupted the conversation.  
"Talia! And Tony, I see you've made a new friend." It was Talia's newly discovered _half_-brother.  
"Hi, Tony! And... Why are you talking about yourself?" Talia asked, puzzled.  
Tony chuckled, "Oh no, he's Tony, and I'm also Tony. Just call me Tony and him Tony Junior, or just Junior for short."  
"Oh... Okay." Talia nodded.  
"Junior, it's okay, I'll escort her." Tony said, and Junior had left by a small opening.  
"Come on." Tony flicked a tail for Talia to follow.  
Talia padded out of the opening and marveled at the giant trees surrounding her. The leafs looked like her nest, so she thought that these were coconut trees. It wasn't a normal tree, where branches were sprouting from everywhere on the trunk.  
The branches were way up on the tree, the blades of their leaves catching and riding the wind.  
It was great, too, that the leaves were way up there because the wind below can blow freely, into Talia's face.  
"Mother Anna." Tony said in greeting, "She's here. I will leave you two now." He left them and padded back the way they came.  
The cat was sitting, an old one at that. She had a light gray pelt with darker specs. Talia guessed that this was Mother Anna.  
"Talia..." The cat turned around to face Talia. "The legendary daughter of the legendary Lenus... How long it has been since I've met you."  
"You know my father?" Talia asked, taking a pawstep forward.  
"Of course, Lenus is a legend." Anna repeated, "Among our long bloodline, anyway."  
"_Our_?" Talia questioned again.  
"Yes. Everyone you see here in Coconut Groove is your kin one way or another."  
"Um... Can I ask you something?"  
"Of course."  
"Do you know as to where my father and mother resides?"  
"Yes... They live in what they call a 'Clan'." Mother Anna looked up, a far-away look was what Talia and Nicole called it, "Where cats hunt in the wild and battle and shed blood whenever they feel like it."  
"Do you know any other siblings that _I_ should know?"  
"Yes... Harris and Hailey. A year apart from each other. They live in the Big Alleys; Main Alleys for some. Tony lives here, as you can tell."  
"And... why am I here?" Talia hesitated before she asked.  
"To journey."  
"To?" Talia urged.  
"To your mother and father." Anna looked at Talia.  
"What? Why? I like it here." Talia shook her head just a bit.  
"Your mother and father wishes it. We are not to interfere." Anna sighed.  
"I'll get to see them?" Talia's heart skipped a beat.  
"Precisely. From tonight onward." Anna nodded, "Come. It is dusk. We need to prepare."

* * *

Talia crouched silently, as best as she could. She could feel Tony's breath collect in front of her, smelling like mice. She wrinkled her nose and tried not to comment. To his right was Audrey, a light brown cat with beautiful amber eyes that was an expertise when it comes to healing. To Talia's left was a new cat, his name was Zeke, and he was a jet black cat with silver eyes. Sometimes Talia thought that he was a monster.  
From what Talia knows, she's being escorted to a forest, where her parents are waiting to take her to the so-called Clan. She was reluctant to leave but she trusted her parents, even though she never saw them.

- ~*~ -

"So, you aren't my brother. Only half." Talia said, when they were alone.  
Tony nodded, "Yeah."  
"So... You probably don't know when was the last time my parents saw me?" She asked, broken-hearted.  
Tony had licked his paws, but stopped abruptly when he heard her question, "I see. You think they don't even care as to whether you're dead or not, huh?"  
Talia sighed and nodded slowly.  
"I used to think like that when my-" he stopped to consider, "_our_ mother abandoned me. But it's not like that. They do care, Talia. They were worried about you wherever they went. When you were 1 to 2 moons old, they left.  
"I guess I grew jealous and asked Mother Anna a few things about you. Anna says they visited two times for you. After you were about 3 moons, they stopped coming."  
Talia's jaws were open slightly, "Oh.. Um... I'm sorry... I didn't realize..."  
"No need." Tony purred, "Anything else?"  
Talia chuckled, "I wonder what would it be like if your father found me here-"  
Tony's eyes sparked like mad wildfire, "Talia! Don't speak of my father! You're lucky to step into Coconut Groove on his absence. He would've skinned you!"  
"I'm sorry, I didn't know!" Talia gasped, "So much hate..."  
"Indeed." Tony agreed, "In fact, he's searching for you on the Path Alleys." [+]  
"T-T-To skin me?" Talia trembled.  
"Yeah... something like that. I'm not joking." Tony looked away, "He's returning tomorrow. At dawn. That's why we need to depart. Tonight."

- ~*~ -

She shook her head. _Focus!_  
Tony started to move forward, out of the Coconut Groove Alley, and onto the dusty path. Talia came second with Audrey flanking her side and Zeke bringing up the rear. The line of cats padded at half-speed, making haste but careful to keep silent as well. Tony's ears pricked forward, searching for any little sound and looking for obstacles-or foes. Suddenly, his eyes pricked backwards.  
Tony whipped his head around, and his eyes dilated in fear.  
"Tony?!" A low meow growled behind them.  
"Father?!" Tony replied in panic.  
"What is _TALIA DOING HERE?!_"

* * *

Chapter 1 Description:

[*]  
- "Learning" is school I guess XD Back when I was in Vietnam, I could go to school whenever I wanted, even if I choose to skip school. Pretty spoiled am I?

[^]  
- Yup, she's my father's side. My grandma is the one that spoiled me the most. She literally implanted the idea in my mind that money grows from trees and we were really rich. So, if I wanted anything, I would call her and we'd go to the place necessary to buy that item, and I would get what I want. XD What do you think of me now?

[$]  
- ME AND MY COUSIN LOVE ACTING. She's the one that brought me into acting. We both love Korean and Chinese drama back then because it was dubbed, and we would start acting whenever we feel like it or whenever one of us goes to the other's house. Ah, good times.

[ ]  
- HOMERUN! X"DDDDDDDDD

[&]  
- Please, no dirty thoughts x.x I always think the reader would get dirty thoughts if the action was "cocked her/his head to the side" I MEAN, EVERYTHING GOES TO THE GUTTER FOR ME.

[#]  
- ...Yeah, she cried her eyeballs out when I left for America... I only shed little tears because... well... I guess you'll find out after a while

[+]  
- Path Alleys... Alleys among the freeways? I dunno XD

* * *

Chapter 2: The Great Escape

**Chapter 2 is going to be short. **  
Announcements: Uhm... Uh... Characters So Far will be a drawing serie of the characters in the story so far. Hence the title (If you are reading this in FanFiction, visit .com and search for the drawing ^3^) OH! AND REMEMBER: I am Rocktail, Rocktail is me. Everything that happens in this story happened to me at least once, and sometimes is a little bit more exaggerated than it should be... _

(FanFiction Readers: This chapter is posted with chapter 1 because... of... FanFiction chapter title thing :I)  
Key  
Normal  
_Thoughts_  
"_LOL_" = Change of voice tone (usually deeper)  
_[ : ]_ = Camera movement  
" : " = Quotations... Duh.  
** blah **= Author's note  
* * * = TIME WARP  
- ~*~ - = Flashback Start/Stop  
[*InsertStrangeSymbolHere] = Mid-note, see matching symbol in description for explanation. Recommended that upon sight, scroll down to description.

* * *

Talia dared to look back, although it was as dark as ever-the Night of the Dark Moon. She could make out a cat figure, taller than the group.  
"Why didn't anyone notify me?" the cat's voice grew lower and had much more venom.  
"Uncle Ben, I can explain..." Audrey pleaded. [-]  
"Talia..." Tony whispered, "...Run."  
That was all he had to say. Talia took off like a lightning bolt, mustering all the speed she can. She heard Tony's father shouting furociously behind her. She planned to look back for a millisecond, but what she saw shocked her to a complete standstill.  
Uncle Ben gripped Tony by his neck and threw him aside. Tony landed on his back against a tree, sliding down limply. Audrey launched herself at Ben, but he reared on his hind legs and knocked Audrey aside by his front paw. Audrey was flung onto the ground, fire-like dust sprouted from under her still-but breathing-body. Ben padded over slowly. When he was near Audrey, once again, he reared on his hind legs, ready to strike down. Suddenly, Zeke flew out of seemingly nowhere and pawed at Ben's face with claws sheathed. Ben was taken aback and crashed on the ground. Zeke panted and turned back to Audrey but Ben tackled his flank. Ben had Zeke pinned and did the most absurd thing Talia had ever seen: he delivered the death-blow to Zeke.  
"_I SAID RUN!_" Tony's voice thundered, knocking Talia back to consciousness.  
Talia widened her eyes when Ben's eyes interlocked hers. It was red-blood red. She ran as fast as she could, new-fround fear being the only motivation for running. She could hear Ben's advancing pawsteps, and that isn't a good sign.  
Talia turned around, and saw Ben's body flying overhead, ready to skin her. But a swift lightning force intercepted Ben during his flight and knocked him aside. Ben landed on the ground but didn't stop there; he skidded for a few mouse-lengths, disturbing the hazy dust. Talia's rescuer was older than her, which was just common sense. It was a tom, white like snow with gray horizontal stripes across his four legs. His tail was remarkably long with gray stripes as well throughout the tail.  
"Your quarrel is with me, Ben, not my daughter." He growled threateningly, then turned back at Talia, "Are you alright?"  
_Daughter?_ Talia didn't reply, she only stood, her paws shaking from the close call of death. She felt a presence beside her and whipped her head around violently. She relaxed when it was a gentle-looking she-cat. Very dark gray with lighter gray markings, green pools of eyes similar to Talia's, and a white tail tip.  
"You're okay, honey." She said, her tail tip brushing soothingly on Talia's flank.  
The fight started right there and it ended quickly as it was started.  
"I stunned him." the white tom looked at the she-cat. Then he twitched his whiskers and looked up at the sky, "It'll be raining. Come on, the rain will mask our scent."  
The dark she-cat nodded and picked up Talia by her scruff, following after the tom's lead as they tore their way through the foliage.  
That's when Talia felt something warm, and everything collapsed to solid black.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: From the Warrior's Side.  
**YAY, CHAPTER 3 IS OUT! I'm sorry for the delay, very very sorry v.v This chapter is mainly for the purpose of description of the Clan camp, meeting Talia's warrior side of the family, and has a very sad ending. Very sad might be a little bit too exaggerated, but to me it is.**  
Announcements: Chapter 3 is moderate in length, so Chapter 4 would be expected to update in two days without any interruption -.- Because lately, my dad wants me at his workshop. To "help" is what he says but I end up doing everything.  
Key  
Normal  
_Thoughts_  
"_LOL_" = Change of voice tone (usually deeper)  
_[ : ]_ = Camera movement  
" : " = Quotations... Duh.  
** :blah **= Author's note  
* * * = TIME WARP  
- ~*~ - = Flashback Start/Stop  
[*InsertStrangeSymbolHere] = Mid-note, see matching symbol in description for explanation. Recommended that upon sight, scroll down to description.

* * *

Talia woke up, hoping it was all a dream.  
Only it wasn't.  
Talia lifted her head up from her sleeping-on-the-side position.  
"You're awake." A voice from above her meowed.  
Talia widened her eyes and realized that she had been sleeping on the paws of an older cat. Talia looked up. She was met with dark blue eyes and a blank smile. It was a she-cat, an old one, but in a good way. Her pelt was like that she-cat that calmed Talia when she was in frantic.  
"Welcome to AuroraClan...Talia." She had a moment's hesitation before calling Talia her name, "I'm your grandmother, from your mother's side of the family." The she-cat stood up, "My name's Cindershade, but you are free to call me 'grandma', like you do with your other grandma." Cindershade got up. Talia must've imagined the hiss at the words "other grandma."  
"Aurora...Clan?" Talia knitted her brows. _Clan._ Was this the Clan that Mother Anna was talking about? It must be...  
"Grandma! Is my sister awake yet?!" A voice from the opening of the den yowled.  
"Be quiet for StarClan's sake, Ripplekit." Cindershade rolled her eyes, "I'll leave you two."  
A kit entered, three moons of age if Talia were to guess. She had a silver pelt and darker stripes for her marking. Her eyes were light blue, like Tony's, but much... blue-er.  
"You must be Talia! My sister!" Ripplekit meowed excitedly, bouncing around Talia.  
"S-Sister?" Talia's head was spinning, and she didn't know whether it was from confusion or Ripplekit bouncing around her.  
"Yeah! Mother told me lots about you!" Ripplekit paused right in front of Talia's face and leaned closer until their noses touched, "I have a sister!"  
Talia continued to stare wide-eyed at the kit with confusion, weirdened out by her joy.  
"I'm Ripplekit! In case you didn't know." Ripplekit grinned, plopping down in front of Talia, "I mean, you heard Grandma call me by my name, did you?"  
Talia nodded slowly.  
"Ripplekit, if you're making such a rackus in here, it must be that your sister is awake." A voice joined in. From the opening popped in the she-cat at the night of the escape.  
"Yeah! She's definitely awake!" Ripplekit raced to the she-cat, and they nuzzled.  
"Well, welcome to AuroraClan, Talia. This will be your home from now on." the dark she-cat smiled.  
"I'm really honored, but I never asked you your name... or why you rescued me." Talia said, innocently.  
The she-cat purred, "As a daughter, you're pretty rude to speak to your mother like that."  
"You're my mother?" Talia knitted her brows-again.  
Ripplekit laughed, rolling over, "Talia's already in trouble!" She sang, tauntingly.  
"This is her first time here, so I'll let it pass." the she-cat chuckled, "My name is Rainfoot. Cindershade, I'm guessing you already know is _my_ mother. You can address me by my name, but I prefer you call me the traditional way."  
"Then... what about the white tom?" Talia cocked her head to the side.  
As if on cue, the white tom before padded in and nuzzled Rainfoot.  
"This," Rainfoot purred, "is your father, Blizzardclaw. Best warrior in the business."  
Blizzardclaw purred in reply, "No need to brag about me."  
"Dad's the best! Dad's the best! He's so good he beats the rest!" Ripplekit sang, "Oh hey! That rhymed!"  
Rainfoot and Blizzardclaw chuckled, and Talia herself gave a little smile.

Talia padded alongside Blackclaw, one of the elite warriors in the Clan. He had shown Talia the territory, and she remembered it vaguely. He said that with more patrolling, Talia would get used to the territory.  
"Right now it might be big," Blackclaw had mentioned it earlier, "but later on, you'll find it to be small, and the overwhelming urge to expand our corners."  
That's what she liked about Blackclaw. He seemed very sophisticated and knowledgeable.  
But his name was a peculiar one... All cats have black claws, don't they? Why does he possess the name then? [~] Talia shook her head to clear the thought. But it was too sticky to unstick. The cats had a strange name system. Rain and foot, Blizzard and claw, Black and claw... It didn't make sense whatsoever. _If it makes sense to them and makes them happy, I'm happy._  
Blackclaw and Talia entered the camp, which by now was busy with activity. There were more than 30 cats if Talia were to make a quick estimate. Usually in the Alleys, there were to be a maximum of 17, including the Alley Alpha and Alley Rightpaw, the second in command. But 30?! The good thing was, the camp is huge. Huge huge. AuroraClan was a bit bigger than five Alleys put together. It was surrounded by a mountain, making a circle as it circled the dens, leaving an opening. In the camp, the grass was decreased, indicating that cats had walked on this path for as long as the sun.  
To Talia's right was an average sized log, made for the elders. Next to it was the "Fresh kill pile", where cats deposited their kills and other cats take from it to eat. Which is peculiar. If its your kill, shouldn't you have the right to eat it?  
The apprentice den was the second largest den in the Clan. It houses cats from six to thirteen moons of age; called apprentices. And the warrior den was next, being the biggest cave Talia had ever seen; width-wise. It was like a rock flattened, except it has an opening and nests inside.  
Back in the camp clearing, in the middle of it all and pressed up against the wall, was the leader den. The leader's name was Aurorastar. Talia guessed that the "star" behind "Aurora" was reserved only for leaders, since no other cats had it. Directly underneath the leader den was the "High Rock". It was where Aurorastar delivered announcements and ceremonies.  
It looked like a cat looking up in Talia's perspective; with no ears. Next was the nursery; where Talia had been sleeping with Cindershade when she first arrived. The nests were super soft compared to any other nest in the Clan. Last, but not least, completing the Clan circle was the medicine den. The medicine cat's name was Berrywhisker, a kin of Blackclaw's, except that Berrywhisker had white siamese-like markings.  
When Blackclaw offered Talia to go rest, Talia ate up the opportunity. Talia padded to the nursery, trying to find the nest that she slept in before. Talia had expected the nest to be like it was before, but it was switched out and in its place was a new one. Talia plopped down tiredly. The sun was still setting, so the nursery was empty.  
That was when Talia realized something. Why did her name stay the same? No one talked about what would happen to it. _Well, maybe that's because you have no friends, Talia!_ The young cat scolded herself.  
Talia put her head on her paws and watched as the she-cats scuffled into the den, murmuring.  
Talia had many friends when she was in her Alley... Lots. Cats often begged her to be friends, and cats who were her friends were deciding on whether or not the requested cat was going to be a good addition. Talia missed all of that. Being in the center of the Alley... Being the one who decides what to do and can override anything... Talia sighed.  
The she-cats who padded in was either visibly pregnant, or had kits tagging along with them. But they all had one thing in common: none of them paid attention to Talia.  
_Maybe 'cause you're a complete stranger, Talia?_ Talia scolded herself again.  
Then, that's when she saw Rainfoot come in with Ripplekit close to her. Talia's eyes sparkled and perked her ears up, trying to make contact with her mother. But she didn't glance at Talia, her eyes were locked onto Ripplekit's, smiling and purring. Rainfoot settled down on a nest far away from Talia's, back toward her.  
Talia glattened her ears against her face. _It isn't on purpose... Mother just... Wanted time with... Ripplekit..._  
She closed her eyes gently, but that action caused a tear to run down her cheeks down to her newly replaced nest.

* * *

[~]

- Has anyone ever thought of this as they read the warrior series? XD


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Making Acquaintances  
**Chapter 4 is when we get to see if Talia makes friends or not~ And her new name ;D WHAT'S IT GONNA BE?! XD Yeah, you know the answer.**  
Announcements: Ehm... So this is basically how it goes:  
(Let's use Chapter 3 and 4 as an example) When I'm finished typing Chapter 4, chapter 3 will be released. Hence, when I'm done typing chapter 5, chapter 4 will release. Easy to understand? owo  
Key  
Normal  
_Thoughts_  
"_LOL_" = Change of voice tone (usually deeper)  
_[ : ]_ = Camera movement  
" : " = Quotations... Duh.  
**blah **= Author's note  
* * * = TIME WARP  
- ~*~ - = Flashback Start/Stop  
[*InsertStrangeSymbolHere] = Mid-note, see matching symbol in description for explanation. Recommended that upon sight, scroll down to description.

* * *

Talia had sat on the damp green grass for StarClan knows how long, (that was the Clan that this Clan worshipped. The Clan of the Stars.) listening to the leader rant on about how serious this whole thing was. Beside her sat Blackclaw, an experienced "warrior" of AuroraClan, smiling. _How can he smile in such a time like this?_  
"I decided that you, Blackclaw, will mentor Talia." Aurorastar said. Talia only heard because her name was mentioned.  
"Uh, Aurorastar," Blackclaw tiled his head, "Why are we here then? Instead of..." He trailed off.  
_There are some air waves connecting their brains, I swear._ Talia thought suspiciously, but on the outside, her expression was unchanged.  
"So..." Blackclaw continued, "What of her name?"  
"Rockpaw." Aurorastar purred.  
_What?!_ Talia widened her eyes disgustingly for a moment. _There are millions of other names to describe a gray cat like me, and you go with 'Rockpaw'?!_ Talia refrained herself from flinging at the white leader. [`]  
"What do you think, Rockpaw?" Blackclaw looked at her, smiling.  
"Yeah, I think it's great!" replied Rockpaw, enthusiastically. _Blackclaw's smile makes me go_ 'HANYAN!' _Did I blush?! Please don't blush in a time like this!_

Rockpaw padded to the apprentice den, her chin and tail lifted up with pride.  
Blackclaw had walked her back to camp and departed to go on a patrol with the other warriors. He said for Rockpaw to check out her new nest in the apprentice den; in the corner. Rockpaw peered in, relieved to see only three other cats in the den. She mustered her courage, and padded in.  
_The nest in the corner..._ Rockpaw repeated Blackclaw's instructions in her head, _To the far... Right!_ She smiled as she padded to the nest indicated. It wasn't as soft, but at least she gets one.  
Rockpaw laid on her nest, looking around, searching her mind if there was anything to do. _But that'll be impossible. I'm untrained._Rockpaw sighed. _Hunting and Fighting might as well be Twoleg hunting and fighting._ Rockpaw shuddered. She put her head down to her paws, and looked at the three apprentices who were conversing with excited squeals.  
Rockpaw was reminded of when she had friends like that. Ali, Bo, and Fiona. And the entire neighboring Alleys. _Everyone had respected me,_ Rockpaw sighed, _now I'm just a savage. Boy, I can tell I'm not gonna be happy living like this._  
"Hey," a meow came from Rockpaw's right. An apprentice with long dawn-like fur stood, looking at Rockpaw with half-eyes.  
Rockpaw jerked her head up and blinked, not knowing what to do.  
"Aren't you going to reply?" retorted another, backing up the first. They were all female, and this one had a dark gray pelt followed by pitch black sock-like markings. Her violet gaze pierced through Rockpaw.  
"Y-Yes..." Rockpaw answered timidly.  
"We heard you came from the Twoleg-place." said the third one. She had hazel brown pelt with deeper brown stripes and an amber gaze that seemed to match everything together.  
"Yeah..." Rockpaw answered. _Yup, I won't be happy at all._  
"Do you have any friends?" the dark colored apprentice asked, her white gaze pressing on Rockpaw's.  
"No..." Rockpaw shook her head.  
She felt an air communication with the three as they faced each other.  
"My name's Dawnpaw. This is Poppypaw," she flicked her tail at the dark apprentice, and then at the brown she-cat, "and Hazelpaw. We already know your name. Rockpaw, right?"  
Rockpaw nodded and stood up, looking at her new friends expectedly. They never returned her gaze, though. _They look older than I do,_Rockpaw thought.  
"You're six moons now, right? We're eight moons and more experienced, so you have to listen to us, okay?" Poppypaw said, in a sweet tone, but in a contradicting meaning.  
Rockpaw nodded again, her tail high and proud. _I've got friends!_  
"Keep your tail down." Hazelpaw scolded, "Around us, you're still a newcomer, so don't do that."  
Rockpaw hesitated before lowering her tail. Hazelpaw frowned at Rockpaw until her tail was touching the ground. Hazelpaw's face lit up with a smile and the three apprentices filed out the den.

"If you are to fit in to this Clan, you have to know everyone's names." Poppypaw meowed with superiority.  
"But how?" Rockpaw knitted her brows, "There's like ten thousand of you guys."  
"No need to exaggerate." Poppypaw turned back to face Rockpaw, "It's easy once you get the hang of it."  
Rockpaw looked down at her paws as Poppypaw continued to pad forward with Rockpaw following.  
"Hello, Rockpaw. Poppypaw." a kind voice meowed from Rockpaw's right.  
Rockpaw lifted up her head and looked up at Blackclaw, "Hi, Blackclaw."  
"Giving her a tour, I see." Blackclaw smiled to Poppypaw.  
"Of course, it's proper etiquette." Poppypaw puffed out her chest and raised her tail.  
Rockpaw imitated Poppypaw, but Poppypaw looked at Rockpaw with a death glare, and Rockpaw studied her paws and lowered her tail.  
Blackclaw purred, "Apologies if I'm interrupting. Just wanted to pay a visit to my apprentice." Blackclaw looked at Rockpaw warmly and padded off.  
Rockpaw blushed. _Oh! Not in front of Poppypaw!_ Luckily, Poppypaw was too busy ranting on about Clan life.  
"That reminds me..." Poppypaw looked back, "When are you having your apprentice ceremony?"  
"Apprentice... Ceremony?" Rockpaw asked, puzzled.  
"Yeah. When the apprentices are named?" Poppypaw answered, like it was common sense.  
"...I don't recall having any..." Rockpaw shrugged. _Is it that important?_  
"Wow. Pity." Was all Poppypaw said before parting, leaving Rockpaw alone to question her existence in the Clan.

* * *

**[`]**  
** - This was me when I got my warrior name from the warriors official website.**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: The Day Out  
**This is a good chapter. I swear. I-This idea popped into my mind. Oh my god, this chapter is going to be lovely.**  
Announcements: None c:  
Key  
Normal  
_Thoughts_  
"_LOL_" = Change of voice tone (usually deeper)  
_[ : ]_ = Camera movement  
" : " = Quotations... Duh.  
**blah **= Author's note  
* * * = TIME WARP  
- ~*~ - = Flashback Start/Stop  
[*InsertStrangeSymbolHere] = Mid-note, see matching symbol in description for explanation. Recommended that upon sight, scroll down to description.

* * *

Rockpaw blinked her sleepy eyes. She had made sure to wake up early, but it was _too_ early. The Sun hasn't risen yet, and Rockpaw was like a stone, standing guard of the apprentice den.  
Rockpaw straightened, determined to prove that she, too, was fit to be a warrior one day.

- ~*~ -

"Rockpaw!" Blackclaw's voice shouted from Rockpaw's back, and she turned around.  
"Hi, Blackclaw." Rockpaw smiled. The Sun was setting, and the cats were getting ready to sleep the night away. Some didn't, because they were on night guard duty. There were two shifts, one when the moon comes, one where the moon reaches the middle of the sky. Two cats for each; apprentices, warriors, and the deputy, too, can do it.  
"I was thinking of standing night guard with you, but I talked to your parents, they wouldn't let you." Blackclaw chuckled.  
_WHAT?!_ Talia's mind screamed, _I get to go stand night guard with Blackclaw_ alone _and my parents disapproved?!_ Rockpaw felt like she died inside, "Yeah, it's a shame."  
"Tomorrow I was thinking of training. I'll show you the hunting moves, the basic ones. So, get early, hm?" Blackclaw suggested.  
"Yeah! I'll see you at dawn." Rockpaw promised. _Dawn, I kind of love you now._

- ~*~ -

"Up early, I see." The voice Rockpaw's been waiting for.  
"Yup! Extra early, too." Rockpaw grinned.  
"Let's be off, then. Lucky we got dawn sessions." Blackclaw looked out into the forest, "Follow."  
Before Rockpaw could reply, Blackclaw bolted off, leaving a trail of dust behind him. Rockpaw scurried on her paws and followed the lingering, but lightly falling, dust trail her mentor had set. It wasn't long before she entered the forest, which had no dust trails to follow.  
Back in Learning, she had learned a few tracking techniques herself. But of course, she only stayed until the 3rd Step, so there wasn't really any hard thing to it.  
Rockpaw looked around the foliage, trying to make out any black things moving. _Well, I lost him._ Rockpaw sighed and tasted the air with her tongue. [-] She caught a familiar scent and started to follow it. Eventually, the scent caused Rockpaw to take a turn and pad in the opposite direction she was going before. It led to a bush, and when she inspected the bush, it reeked of Blackclaw. [%]  
"Well done." Blackclaw's voice sounded from inside the bush, "Come in."  
Rockpaw squeezed through and widened her eyes. She stood on sand. The firm sand that you would only find in the forest. Bushes lined the sand and trees towered over them.  
"This is our Training Area." Blackclaw said, proudly, "Sometimes called 'Sandy Clearing' as well. I think you know why."  
"Wow... Did you make this?" Rockpaw pawed the sand, in awe.  
"No... StarClan set this for us, in order to ensure our existence." Blackclaw purred as he looked up to the sky.  
_Oh yeah..._ StarClan: the dead ancestors that watch over the cats. It made some sense to Rockpaw. But she had heard that the bad cats cannot ascend to StarClan, but gets stuck under the earth and are forced to be there forever. Rockpaw shuddered.  
"Enough with the chit-chat. Shall we?" Blackclaw smiled as he looked back at his apprentice.

Rockpaw carried her mouse proudly to the fresh-kill pile. Her first mouse!  
"Being busy, I see." A cat next to her meowed.  
She turned to see who started the conversation. He was a brown tabby, with fierce amber eyes.  
"Um... yes..." Rockpaw replied timidly.  
"I'm sorry if I couldn't be there at your arrival. I'm your mother's younger brother, Tigerstep. Which means, I'm your Uncle." He poked Rockpaw's nose with his paw.  
"Oh.. Hi, Uncle." Rockpaw grinned.  
"That's the spirit." Tigerstep purred, "Let me introduce you to your cousin."  
"I have another cousin?!" Rockpaw exclaimed. She had a ton of cousins in the Alley and Coconut Groove. Now, there's going to be more. "How many cousins are here?"  
"Only one." Tigerstep chuckled, "Icewing!"  
A silvery-white she-cat with pale blue eyes padded their way. Rockpaw envied her, she could attract toms from anywhere!  
"Yes, Dad?" the white she-cat asked. _Icewing was a fitting name._  
"Your cousin," Tigerstep pushed the sitting Rockpaw forward.  
"H-Hi." Rockpaw mewed softly.  
Icewing chuckled, "Hey. Rockpaw, is it?"  
Rockpaw nodded.  
"You two have fun." Tigerstep chuckled and padded off.  
"You know, you and I are very similar." She said, "Come, let's sit over at the flower patches, we're in the way."  
Rockpaw nodded and followed Icewing, "Our bloodline?"  
"Partially." Icewing shrugged, it was a short walk because they arrived at the flower patches, "Not the answer I was thinking of, though."  
Rockpaw wrapped her tail around her paws, "What is it?"  
"I also came from the Twoleg Place." Icewing smiled.  
Rockpaw widened her eyes. _She ca-_  
"Rockpaw!" a voice interrupted her thoughts.  
"Over here, Blackclaw!" She replied and watched as the black tuxedo cat pad over.  
At the same time, Dawnpaw, Hazelpaw, and Poppypaw came over.  
"We'll talk later, okay?" Icewing said, and padded off.  
"Blackclaw!" Dawnpaw exclaimed, Hazelpaw and Poppypaw snickering behind her.  
"Yes?" Blackclaw turned around to face the "Trouble-Trio".  
"I saw Rockpaw blushing the other day when you smiled at her." Dawnpaw smirked as she looked back to her friends, "Isn't that right, Rockpaw?"  
Rockpaw gasped in despair and started blushing hard again, studying her paws. She felt Blackclaw's gaze on her.  
"Rockpaw likes Blackclaw! Rockpaw likes Blackclaw!" The three apprentices howled entertainingly. [+]  
"You like me, huh?" Blackclaw whispered to Rockpaw.  
Rockpaw was at the edge of crying. _Some friends they are! I'll never talk to them again..._  
"Then, how about spending the day with me?" Blackclaw announced, loud enough to let the trio hear.  
The trio stopped their howling and looked at Blackclaw with a look of pure awe, "What?"  
"Rockpaw?" Blackclaw looked at Rockpaw expectedly.  
Rockpaw smiled widely, "Yeah... Yeah!" _This has got to be the best day ever! The trio's plan backfired and it went to benefit for me!_ She squealed.  
"Come on." Blackclaw purred and led Rockpaw away from the flower patches, leaving the trio to question what in StarClan happened.

Rockpaw padded beside Blackclaw, the hard ground under their paws. They were in the Twolegplace.  
"Hey, Blackclaw, remind me again. Why are we here?" Rockpaw groaned.  
"We're here to recruit." Blackclaw answered.  
"But we already have more than enough cats." Rockpaw reasoned.  
"Leaf-bare is coming. Death and Disease are also brought with it." Blackclaw sighed.  
"And that's why we need more cats?" Rockpaw asked.  
"Yup." Blackclaw meowed, making a left turn into the crevice of two two-leg nests.  
"Welcome to the rogue world." Blackclaw said.  
Rockpaw widened her eyes. The place reeked of rotten things, and it was a dead-cats' land. She hardly can believe the fact that cats lived here.  
"I know right? Hard to believe anything lives here." Blackclaw read her mind, "Come on."  
Rockpaw gulped and followed Blackclaw.  
"Don't worry, Rockpaw. It's our day out, right?" Blackclaw purred, and turned back to face the trembling apprentice.  
"Yeah..." She sighed.  
"Everything's going to be okay." Blackclaw touched his muzzle with hers.  
Rockpaw blushed.  
Blackclaw chuckled and looked around, "This seems like a good place." He sat down.  
"For the recruit stand?" Rockpaw asked, also sitting down.  
"Yup." Blackclaw nodded.  
"Hey," a gruff voice grunted.  
Rockpaw looked to her right.  
There were a gang of cats, either with dark pelts or dark brown pelts and dark brown eyes that made it impossible to see the actual brown, "What are you doing here?"  
"Hello, Talia." A voice in the gang snickered.  
She recognized that voice well. Too well.  
Uncle Ben.

* * *

[+]

- This happened a long time ago... I told her my crush, and she told my crush that I liked him.

I can't.


	6. Chapter 6

**UNCLE BEN! XD I left you off on a good part, but now, I'm letting you in on what happens after! STORY OF STORYWRITING.**  
Announcements: Whelp, my Lazy Meter has gone OVER 9000! Because of LaTale. My character in LaTale is also kind of important in the story, because she gonna appear ;D OH MY GOD, I'M FREAKING HERE! I'M HERE D"X I'M A MOTHER FACKING DRAGOON... DDDD"X  
Key  
Normal  
_Thoughts_  
"_LOL_" = Change of voice tone (usually deeper)  
_[ : ]_ = Camera movement  
" : " = Quotations... Duh.  
**blah **= Author's note  
* * * = TIME WARP  
- ~*~ - = Flashback Start/Stop  
[*InsertStrangeSymbolHere] = Mid-note, see matching symbol in description for explanation. Recommended that upon sight, scroll down to description.

* * *

"You know her, Ben?" The first opposer grinned.  
"Of course..." Ben replied, "After all, she is the daughter of my ex-wife... Which means the daughter of her new husband..."  
"Ah... Lenus... Is it?" The grin widened.  
"I believe so." Ben nodded.  
_What business do they have with my father...?_ Rockpaw glanced at Blackclaw, and was returned by the look of the same expression.  
"Now, then, let's settle business... shall we?" Ben chuckled.  
Just when they were about to leap into a battle they know that they will lose, three dogs jumped in the scene, with a leash from their owner. The dogs were running hysterically at the group of cats, their owners barely able to keep up.  
"Rockpaw, follow me!" Blackclaw yowled and bolted onto one of the giant cans that the Twolegs had dumped. Rockpaw followed, scampering her little legs to do the best it could. One of the dogs were right behind them, its breath collecting on Rockpaw's legs. Blackclaw leaped onto a ledge of a twoleg nest, and helped Rockpaw on. The dog didn't have anyone to help, therefore, can't get ontop.  
"Well... At least we know there's three dogs that keep watch..." Blackclaw panted, "Let's go back home."  
Rockpaw nodded, too exhausted to reply.

"That was fun, huh?" Blackclaw said, as they approached the entrance.  
"Yeah, lots. If you consider the 'edge of death' fun." Rockpaw joked.  
"Blackclaw, you're back." Willowstream confronted them. She was the deputy, the Rightpaw. She had a pale brown pelt, blue eyes, and half-striped half-speckled lighter markings.  
"Yes... With failure." Blackclaw added.  
"Come, we'll meet inside Aurorastar's nest." Willowstream said and padded with Blackclaw to the leader's nest.  
_Just completely ignore me._ Rockpaw rolled her eyes and padded into the camp.  
"Rockpaw!" A delighted mew sounded from Rockpaw's right.  
"Hello, Ripplekit." Rockpaw managed to say before Ripplekit flung herself at Rockpaw, knocking her down.  
"How was it?!" Ripplekit asked urgently.  
"Can I explain to you _not_ tackled down like this?" Rockpaw asked.  
"Oh!" Ripplekit scrambled off of Rockpaw, "Sorry."  
"You know what it is, right?" Rockpaw sighed.  
"Yup. Recruiting rogues!" Ripplekit mewed excitedly, "Speaking of... Where are they?"  
"They... Who?" Rockpaw lifted an eyebrow.  
"They, the rogues. That you recruited?" Ripplekit urged.  
"Oh. That." Rockpaw sighed, "We didn't recruit any."  
"What? Why?" Ripplekit insisted.  
"Because of the dogs."  
"Dogs? There were dogs?!" Ripplekit pretended to be in fighting mode, "I would've beaten them up!"  
"Well, there were three." Rockpaw challenged.  
"Oh... well, maybe save my life." Ripplekit giggled.  
"You need to go to sleep. It's almost night." Rockpaw looked up at the sunset sky.  
"Fine." Ripplekit sighed.  
"Hey, Rockpaw." Icewing came up behind the apprentice.  
"Icewing!" Now it was Rockpaw who mewed excitedly.  
"We haven't had a chance to talk. Anything you want to say to me?" Icewing smiled.  
"Uhm... Yeah. You came from the Twolegplace, right?"  
"Definitely. And I was your age, too."  
"Really?" Rockpaw widened her eyes. She had found someone to talk to.  
Icewing nodded, "Now, you're thinking you have someone to talk to, huh?"  
_She read my mind!_ "Yeah!"  
"Well, we have to talk later, because Willowstream's going to check on the apprentices and kits to make sure they're sleeping. So you better be off."  
"Right! Thanks for the talk!" Rockpaw shouted behind her as she ran to the apprentice den, feeling high and mighty.

_Keep your ears and eyes open..._  
Rockpaw had been assigned on a sun-high patrol with Willowstream, Cloudpaw, and her uncle Tigerstep. They had all gone off in another direction, far away from each other. Rockpaw found that weird, but she was to adapt to it like Icewing did.  
_Then after that,_ Rockpaw squealed inside, _I'm going to train with Blackclaw! Lucky we have dusk sessions!_  
Rockpaw wondered if Cloudpaw had caught anything, since she was very sophisticated. It was hard to process that she was the younger twin.  
Cloudpaw was twins with her sister, Skypaw. The names were both very fitting. Poppypaw, Hazelpaw, and Dawnpaw had stopped talking to Rockpaw (which very much pleased her) and so, Cloudpaw and Skypaw introduced themselves and they were acting like friends who knew each other for a thousand moons.  
Skypaw was older, but she's aggressive and sometimes immature. Cloudpaw was very sophisticated and passive, making her the perfect medicine cat's apprentice, which she was. Blackclaw said that her being on a patrol for hunting had a reason, she could go out and look for herbs.  
Rockpaw sighed. _Okay, let's focus on important things._  
"Who's there?" A trembling voice meowed.  
Rockpaw froze, _That wasn't my voice..._  
"Um... Rockpaw...?" She answered, nervously.  
"Why are you here?" It asked.  
"To hunt..."  
"For?"  
"Food?" _This is getting annoying._  
"Do you belong in that bone-eating, flesh-tearing group of yours?" It asked, a little bit of a hiss inside the tone.  
"Hey! Don't you dare criticize my Clan. Besides, you've never been in it! How could you!" Rockpaw raised her tail, stating the truth.  
"D-Don't hurt me." It asked, trembling again.  
Rockpaw sighed, "I won't, but what you said was not nice. Can you kindly step out of the bush now?"  
It didn't answer, but she heard a rustle. Rockpaw took a few pawsteps back, giving the creature space. If it could speak cat, then it's obviously a cat.  
A white tom emerged, his pelt pricked with leaves and thorns. His eyes were striking ice blue, and he looked her age! _How can a kit like this survive?!_  
"What's your name?" Rockpaw questioned firmly.  
"Zero." It answered.  
"Zero?" Rockpaw tried to process the fact.  
"Yeah. Pretty cool, huh?" Zero grinned.  
"Okay... I guess it kind of makes sense now..." Rockpaw nodded slowly.  
"So, aren't you gonna go back and report me?" Zero sighed.  
"What?" Rockpaw jerked her head back.  
"Report me to your leader. To chase me away." Zero said.  
"Really? Is that what they did you to you?" Rockpaw asked, affectionately.  
"...To my parents... yes..." Zero sat down.  
"Oh... I'm sorry... I-I'll leave." Rockpaw turned away.  
"Wait!" Zero stood, padding toward Rockpaw, "You seem like a nice girl. Are all girls in your group that way?"  
"_Clan._ And sometimes. My former three friends weren't that nice." Rockpaw chuckled.  
"Well, you are certainly the first nice cat I've met in a long time." Zero confirmed.  
"Well, maybe it's because you never met a cat in a long time." Rockpaw reasoned.  
"Whatever." Zero rolled his eyes.  
"So, are you here to see if you can join the Clan?"  
"What? Join? Not in moons." Zero closed his eyes in a rejective fashion.  
"Why not? It's fun." Rockpaw tilted her head to the side.  
"Maybe." Zero said, then licked his paws, "If I can confirm through you that the Clan is safe."  
"It is safe, what are you talking about?" Rockpaw knitted her eyebrows.  
"Nevermind." Zero dismissed the conversation.  
"You were shy when we first met. What happened to that?" Rockpaw asked.  
"Nothing. I'm sometimes nice, sometimes mean, sometimes calm." Zero shrugged.  
"Really? You're going to start giving me those answers now?" Rockpaw glared at the white tom.  
"Relax." Zero said, "It's not like I'm teasing you just for my entertainment."  
"How dare you!" Rockpaw defended herself, "I'm not created for your living 'entertainment' you know!"  
"Rockpaw! Are you done?" Cloudpaw's voice sounded near. And her pawsteps can be heard.  
"Quick, _hide!_" Rockpaw hissed.  
Zero nodded and leapt to a bush nearby.  
"Watcha got?" Cloudpaw padded to Rockpaw.  
"Nothing..." Rockpaw smiled.  
"Why are you smiling when you caught nothing?" Cloudpaw noted.  
"Why are you checking on me if _you_ hadn't got anything?" _That was a good comeback, Rockpaw!_ She chuckled.  
"Hey, I'm just worrying about you." Cloudpaw shrugged, "Who knows... a fox might jump on you. Or a racoon! Or... a freak cat who doesn't know where they are and they start attacking you!"  
_Hey, the last one seems like what I'm experiencing,_ Rockpaw wanted to say it out loud, "Stop doing that or you'll freak the whole Clan."  
"Sorry." Cloudpaw giggled, "Well, you better catch something soon, Willowstream's already got two mice and one rabbit, and she's going to conclude the hunt."  
"Oh!" Rockpaw realized in shock, "I'll catch you later then." Rockpaw said, but it wasn't for Cloudpaw.  
"See ya." Cloudpaw replied nonetheless, and Rockpaw followed her, casting a smile behind her shoulders, and the same smile reflected through ice blue eyes.

**Too cheesy? XD**


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7: Test of the Trinity  
**I'm sorry if the last chapter was short... I got distracted. This chapter is juicy, and I hope you guys... are enjoying your summer. I don't know what to say at this point... I'm really sleepy, and I want to type this story for you guys...**  
Announcements: None :3  
Key  
Normal  
_Thoughts_  
"_LOL_" = Change of voice tone (usually deeper)  
_[ : ]_ = Camera movement  
" : " = Quotations... Duh.  
**blah **= Author's note  
* * * = TIME WARP  
- ~*~ - = Flashback Start/Stop  
[*InsertStrangeSymbolHere] = Mid-note, see matching symbol in description for explanation. Recommended that upon sight, scroll down to description.

* * *

Something is coming.  
The golden lioness looked above her with a saddened expression. She was in a T-shaped building, the one build for masses for those humans who believed in a God. There were no crucifixes hung up on a ceiling. Just pictures of the Gods the Ferians loved and worshipped.  
There were three classifications: Minor Gods, whose work receives few to no appreciation, Major Gods, who the Ferians worship second and receive few to decent amount of appreciation, and the Supreme Gods, which only number up to two. They are the powerful Gods who were thought to have built this planet, landscape, shape, colors, and much more.  
Someone is targetting them all.  
Just then, a raindrop-shaped, rainbow-colored substance dropped from the ceiling. Once the "raindrop" touched the ground, it exploded in a metallic-sounding fashion, but hurting no objects. From it, emerged a _human_, kneeling on the ground, with her spear in hand. Her raven hair was tied to one side, making a waterfall-like style.  
"...Angella." The golden lioness greeted.  
"General." The girl called Angella replied, "You've called me?"  
The General chuckled, "The same lady, I see."  
"The same goes to you, General." Angella smiled and stood. "It's been only a few months in Jiendia."  
"Really?" The golden lioness smiled back, "It's been five years here at Feran. I only get to see you once a year, thus, you have four more visits to go."  
"These meetings are very entertaining." Angella walked to the lioness and knelt down to face with her, "But we all know what's coming."  
"Yes..." The General slinked away from the girl, "I expect a surprise attack. So should you."  
"I am aware." Angella replied grimly, "That they are targetting one of the cities. Most likely Elias."  
"Elias... the city with the most people?" The General asked.  
"Precisely. And the one in Feran..." Angella started.  
"Feriol." Both of them said in unison, then chuckled a bit.  
"If your heart matches another heart, Angella," The General changed the subject, "Mine will do the same."  
"Because we are connected." Angella smiled, "And? Who is your heart matched to?"  
"I don't think we're here to discuss such subjects." The General replied.  
"I assume the Creator has one, too." Angella sat on some stairs, leading to the middle of the T-shaped building, "Well, since I'm here... Would you like to explain everything?"

"HA! Gotcha!" Zero laughed.  
Zero had Rockpaw pinned against the ground, grinning with victory.  
"Argh! Everytime I go against you it ends up like this!" Rockpaw scoffed as she stopped struggling.  
Zero got off of the gray apprentice, "What can I say? I was gifted." He sat down, his chin high.  
"Gifted? I can say worse." Rockpaw rolled her eyes.  
"I can't blame you for acting like this. Besides, you only started fighting lessons, you said?" Zero looked back at Rockpaw.  
"Yeah. _Only_ started. So you can't expect me to win against you on first try." Rockpaw licked her paws.  
Zero sneered, "At first, I'd thought that you'd win."  
"Because I'm in the, quote, 'bone-eating, flesh-tearing group'?" Rockpaw teased.  
"Yes." Zero shrugged, then looked at the sky, "It's sun-high... you're going to return?"  
"Yup. I hope the patrol hasn't left without me." Rockpaw stood, "See ya."  
"See ya." Zero flicked his tail in good-bye and vanished into the bushes, like he was never there.  
Of course, Rockpaw had to hunt a few mice before the patrol concludes, keeping the foxy little smile of Zero's in her mind.

"That's why... she could bear the Creator..." Angella murmured, "Their Gods... never knew that the other existed?"  
"Yes... Further more, one is minor and one is major." The General sighed, "That is an odd match."  
"And someone is targetting them all?" Angella asked.  
"No, not just _someone_... Darkius." The General said solemnly.  
"He's back? I thought you executed him." Angella knitted her brows in confusion.  
"But that would be an unexceptable thing to do, life is treasured here." The General shook her head, "Besides, the Guild of Order and Neutral voted on it. There's no way to reverse that decision. For once, the Guild of Chaos is on the good side."  
"Besides, why is he targetting the Gods? He can't even look at them." Angella scoffed.  
"He's planning on doing that using some being." The General locked eyes with the human girl.  
"No..." Angella narrowed her eyes, knowing what the answer is.  
"Someone called me?" A voice sounded from the door.  
"Yuuka, you're here early." The General turned around, smiling.  
Padding toward the two was a snow leopard, her brown spots barely showing, and her eyes were ice blue, "You had a wish to make?"  
"...Yes." The General replied, "That nothing will happen in the battle of AuroraClan."  
"It will require a price." Yuuka said, simply.  
"I'll pay it." Angella stepped forward.  
"_No._" The General looked at Angella, "You don't have to do this. You need your skills to fight." She looked back at Yuuka, "Will my ability to heal suffice?"  
"The price is paid." Yuuka smiled.  
The General heaved a sigh of relief, then smiled, "Guess I have to go back to oldschool fighting, huh?"

Rockpaw sat outside of the apprentice den, glaring in fury at the recruiters for doing their job-successfully.  
Icewing and a warrior she-cat called Leafspeckle had brought back two cats: one with dark fur like Rockpaw's mother, and one with a swollen stomach and pale golden pelt, who was pregnant.  
"That's the only reason they brought her, I think." Skypaw, who was next to Rockpaw, spoke.  
"Yeah. But at least her kits will be Clanborn. Before leaf-bare, too." Rockpaw reasoned.  
"We're on the edge of leaf-fall..." Skypaw said, sadly, "Herbs and prey are beginning to cease..."  
"I guess I'll be in for the time of my life." Rockpaw said sarcastically.  
"Oh yeah... this is going to be the first leaf-bare for you!" Skypaw gasped.  
"I've spent leaf-bares in the Alley..." Rockpaw added solemnly, "With enough to eat."  
"It's the opposite here." Skypaw sighed, "Just a tip... don't beg for prey... even if you are starving... or on the verge of death. It's not appropriate."  
"I expected that..." Rockpaw nodded slowly.  
"But cheer up! We're warriors!" Skypaw stood heroically, "We survive the hottest and coldest environments with no complaints!"  
"That's the spirit!" Blackclaw meowed, approaching.  
"Hi, Blackclaw!" The two apprentices greeted together.  
"Hello, girls." Blackclaw smiled, "Getting energetic, I see."  
"Yup!" Rockpaw stood up, "I could beat Skypaw anytime!"  
Skypaw whirled around, "You really think so, Rockpaw?"  
"Think so? I know so!" Rockpaw smirked.  
Blackclaw chuckled, "Continue this quarrel for another time. Guess whose shift it is for elder nest changing?"  
Rockpaw and Skypaw looked at each other, "_Already?!_"  
"Yup. Go get Cloudpaw and Dawnpaw. You're going to need the extra apprentices." Blackclaw laughed and padded away.  
"Sheesh... That Blackclaw... So sinister..." Skypaw rolled her eyes, "I'll go get Cloudpaw. You can get Dawnpaw."  
"Wait, Skypaw...!" Rockpaw sighed. _She's doing this on purpose... She knows the relationship I have with Dawnpaw and the other two are bad..._  
_No time to be a coward,_ Rockpaw straightened, _Let's get this over with._  
Rockpaw looked around the camp, padding to the flower patches, which were their favorite hangout place, and there they were. All three of them gossiping their day away.  
"Dawnpaw!" Rockpaw called from a distance, "It's elder changing nest time!" _Ugh... I can already smell their StarClan forbidden stench._  
Dawnpaw had glanced at Rockpaw, and turned around to her girls again. She exchanged a quick body language, which was rolling of the eyes, and got up to join Rockpaw.  
Cloudpaw and Skypaw was already at the elder den, casting glances of worry. Rockpaw gave them an encouraging smile, and they entered.  
"Dawnpaw, you and I can get the ticks out of the elders," Cloudpaw suggested, "Rockpaw and Skypaw can switch the dens. Agreed?"  
The four nodded, and went to work on what they had to do.  
Suddenly, Rockpaw got a very uncomfortable feeling. She dragged one of the dampy nests out of the den. The feeling still persisted. She looked at her workmates. They all looked fine...  
"_ATTACK!_" A yowl suddenly tore the sky, and then, flashes of fur surrounded Rockpaw.  
One of them caught Rockpaw by the neck and pinned her down. She used her hind legs to scratch them in their belly and used the little time she had to steady herself.  
It was a surprise attack.

Meanwhile, back at the General, it was a full out attack on the T-shaped building. Magic spells, armor, and weapon glints were all that had to describe the scene.  
The golden lioness stood, studying the scene, then decided to jump in. From her mouth formed a shimmering scythe-a long one at that. All enemies were coming from all directions, and she knew what she had to do.  
She put the scythe on its end, grabbed onto the stick with her jaw, and spun, forming and unreachable area while damaging the enemy.  
"_Goruden... Jishin!_" The golden lioness roared as she struck the head down on the floor, creating a quake that had knock-backed all the enemies in the area. [#]

In Jiendia, the attack indeed happened in Elias, wrecking the modern city and its resources.  
"_Hebiransu!_" A raven hair girl shouted, full of anger. She pulled her scythe behind her and thrusted it forward, giving a huge amount of damage to the monster that had been in front of her.  
She backed toward a boy in a black suit, "They keep coming back." She stated.  
"Then we'll keep countering. This'll be good exercise." the boy replied.  
Angella rolled her eyes and parted with him. _Hold on for a few moments, Rockpaw..._

Rockpaw and her attacker had been on their hind legs, trying to claw at each other's faces. Rockpaw had taken that advantage, quickly lowered herself, and swung her paws at their hind legs, knocking them off-balance.  
The attacker was a she-cat, and was the same age as her. There were six claw-like markings on her body, light gray spots on her hind legs, and a circle on her front two legs.  
She was pretty skilled at stealth. Her eyes were teal, but blue-er.  
The two locked on each other again, both clawing at each other's neck, trying to land a blow but the other constantly dodged it.  
"_Rockpaw!_" Blackclaw's growl was near her, and her attacker was sent flying onto one of the dens.  
"You okay?" He asked, eyeing an incoming cat.  
"Yes." Rockpaw nodded as the cat pinned Blackclaw down, but Rockpaw clawed at its sides until blood was flooding out of the slit openings, giving the cat a hard time to strengthen the grip on Blackclaw, giving Blackclaw the advantage of swiping his paw across the cat's face. The cat staggered and retreated.  
"Good job." Blackclaw quickly meowed.  
"Thanks." Rockpaw stood, her fur bristling and her hackles high. But the battle was no more. Blood splattered on walls and dens and the kits were wailing. Berrywhisker and Cloudpaw rushed to everyone, telling them to come into the medicine den.  
The kits and queens were first to be treated, then the elders, then the warriors and apprentices. But saying it is easy, doing it takes time.  
That was when Rockpaw noticed herself.  
She received three claw marks on the side of her face by her opponent, and a long one on her neck. Blood was rushing moderately through the three marks, but the one on the neck was getting redder by the second. A river of blood streamed down Rockpaw's legs and pooled on the ground.  
Rockpaw suddenly felt sleepy-real sleepy.

_[Camera shows three panels, one of Rockpaw's face, one of the General's face, and one of Angella's face, all getting "sleepy."]_

"No... Rockpaw..." General pleaded, trying to stay awake.  
"Just... a while longer... stay... awake..." Angella did the same, holding her spear down to support herself.

_[Rockpaw's eyes closed, and she fainted. Rockpaw's panel blacked out, followed by the General's and Angella's, both also fainted.  
In a dark hallway, illuminated by the light of hell, stood a black wolf with contrasting purple eyes. A black cat appeared, walking toward the wolf. The wolf grinned slyly. The cat stopped a few feet away from the wolf, and opened her eyes. Her iris was yellow, but her sclera was black, her pupils were barely there.]_

The cat opened her mouth, "My name is... Nightflower."

* * *

[#]  
- EVERYTHING SOUNDS BETTER WHEN SHOUTED IN JAPANESE OKAY?! ;-; Goruden Jishin is "Golden Quake" while Hebiransu means "Heavy Lance." I got Heavy Lance from LaTale, but have no idea why they call it that. Goruden Jishin is a made up one XD

**OH MY GOD GUYS**

**YOU THINK THIS CHAPTER IS GOOD?! WAIT 'TIL THE NEXT CHAPTER**  
**I WILL BLOW YOUR F**KING MINDS. I'M NOT KIDDING.**  
**THE NEXT CHAPTER HAS LIKE ALMOST 3,000 WORDS.**

**Yes, that is a lot to me.**

**XD Review, Favorite and Follow? :3**


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8: The Day the Devil Arrives [or (Flower that blooms in the Night)]  
**Who is this mysterious cat that speaks to the purple-eyed wolf?! What threat will she pose to our hero?! Also, the General has given up her ability to heal... for a wish that protects our hero! Did she know the battle will kill Rockpaw?! Who's targetting the Gods?! Is this all too much to take in?!**  
Announcements: Please tell me if the story's confusing. Note me, anything. I will explain it to you, because I have a rough idea how this whole thing's going to play. X"D  
Key  
Normal  
_Thoughts_  
"_LOL_" = Change of voice tone (usually deeper)  
_[ : ]_ = Camera movement  
" : " = Quotations... Duh.  
**blah **= Author's note  
* * * = TIME WARP  
- ~*~ - = Flashback Start/Stop  
[*InsertStrangeSymbolHere] = Mid-note, see matching symbol in description for explanation. Recommended that upon sight, scroll down to description.

* * *

"Pink... Can you-"  
"Yes, Angella. Now lay back down, you're still not fully rested."  
Angella sighed and laid back down as instructed. She knew she was in a healing room. Angella had doubted she'd ever come here... That was stubborn.  
Across the room stood another girl with ice blue hair tied up in one ponytail, streaming down from the middle. Her eyes were a deep sky blue, and the pupils were slits. It made sense since she was going to change into her 3rd Tier Job: An Elemental Master.  
She was the one making all the communications possible between Angella and the General. Sort of like a private thing. Jiendia would exile them if they ever found out. Usually, sorcerers weren't this powerful; connecting wavelengths across space and time.  
"Where's-" Angella started again.  
"He's in another room." Pink sighed.  
"He got hurt?" Angella asked.  
"Don't you dare disobey me and get out." Pink threatened.  
"Who made you the mother?" Angella smiled.  
"You being injured." Pink answered. She twirled her orb and casted a spell. The orb glowed and directed light onto the wall. At first, it was nothing but gray lines, but the image cleared up and it showed the General limping with a leg bandaged.  
"_General!_" Angella shouted with worry.  
"Angella!" The General whipped her head, "What are you... Why are you... Are you hurt?!" She said, speechless while trying to find words to say.  
"I'm okay... It's only my right... leg..." Angella whispered slowly at the last part, noticing the General also had a hurt right leg.  
"So I'm assuming the Creator also has an injured right leg?" Pink said expectedly.  
"I'm afraid so." The General sighed, "How was the battle?"  
"We were close to losing." Angella answered, "You too?"  
The General nodded, "Guess everything _is_ connected." She paused, and continued, "I found a new power source."  
"What do you mean?" Angella lifted a brow.  
"In Ferelle." The General replied, "It's an... alternate self of the Creator."

"_Zero?!_" Rockpaw exclaimed. The first thing she woke up to were those ice blue eyes that made her pelt shiver. _What's he doing here?!_  
"Calm down, Rockpaw." Zero said, "You'll alert the entire Clan."  
"Oh... sorry." Rockpaw quickly apologized, but continued nonetheless, "What are you doing here?! You'd never come to the Clan like this! They're on alert! Have they done any damage to you?"  
"Stop." Zero firmly put his paw down, "I know. I said to never come to your Clan. But yesterday I padded by, wanting to see what everything looks like. And then I heard some whispers about a battle and blood being shed. I wanted to burst into the camp and tell everyone, but they'd kill me before I can do that.  
"I fought in the battle, too... Luckily, those secret tournaments between you and I sharpened my claws and teeth..."  
"So you risked yourself in something you don't care?" Rockpaw knitted her brow.  
"I do care now." Zero sighed, "It has my only friend in it."  
Rockpaw opened her mouth, but no words came out. She smiled, and said, "You know, you being in the Clan will only make us more competitional."  
"I am fully aware." Zero returned the smile.  
"My leg's injured, isn't it?" Rockpaw said, looking at her right leg.  
"It is. And don't worry, I'm not getting any headstarts 'til this is healed." He jerked his head to his tail. It had bent.  
Rockpaw widened her eyes, "What happened?!"  
"I decided to be stubborn and take on a full grown cat. Then, in less than 3 seconds, he gripped my tail and swung me toward a wall." Zero shrugged.  
Rockpaw wanted to laugh, but she knew this wasn't the time. "So... you're joining right?"  
"Yeah." Zero looked around, "At least I'll get a friend to support me."  
_Why did I tell him about the idiot trio?_ "Hey, hey, hey, don't use my own information against me."  
Zero stuck out a tongue, teasing Rockpaw. "I heard your leader's gonna give me a name."  
Rockpaw's ears flicked, "Well, I hope it's better than mine."  
"I heard you have a sister?" Zero started looking around.  
"Yes... Ripplekit's being treated in the nursery. Even though she didn't fight, she didn't get hurt, mother_insisted_ on her getting checked up." Rockpaw growled, "Instead of checking an already safe little kit, the time could be spent to help _others._"  
"Woah..." Zero jerked his head back, "You dislike your sister that bad?"  
"Oh no." Rockpaw sat up, a smile on her face, "It's not my sister. It's my mother." Rockpaw's voice suddenly turned grim, "She hated me from the moment I entered this Clan. No... From the moment I _existed._"  
"How, may I ask?" Zero lifted a brow.  
"Oh... I could tell you." Rockpaw laid down again, "But this is not the place... or time."  
Zero nodded in silence.

"And I have to keep them apart." The General finished.  
"What happens to Rockpaw..." Angella murmured.  
"...Will happen to the alternate." Pink completed the sentence.  
"Then... What about..." Angella trailed off.  
"He only made one, since he only predicted one." The General informed, "My Gaze appeared before his with the difference of only milliseconds." The lioness looked sadly at Angella, "That's how powerful he has become."  
"And... You never made her?" Pink asked.  
"No. None of my records indicated that another descendant was created." The golden feline answered, "Since... the incident."  
Pink nodded, getting her answer.  
"There is another thing." The General sighed, "It's the eyes."  
"...Eyes?" Angella echoed, confused.  
"Yes... As we all know, the Creator holds tremendous power... And most of those power... are stored in her eyes. Even the alternate one.  
"This morning, I checked with Lenard to assess the infected regions of the seed."  
"And did it say anything about the eyes getting infected?" Angella urged.  
"...No. It's like he's doing this on purpose... leaving the eyes alone. Only corrupting the history, personality, and environment. The eyes are good... but also bad.  
"They have the power to see the future and time-travel if powerful enough. Tears from the eyes are the most valueable resource on this world... In Jiendia, it may resemble to the White Wolf's Tear.  
"As I said, they also have a bad use... to collect souls. _All_ souls."

That night, the next night after the battle, was the Gathering.  
Rockpaw had been tought what was the "Gathering" and things they do in there. Appearently, all Clans, or in this case two, gather at a middle point where a truce is held and they exchange news.

- ~*~ -

"I expect them to explain themselves... And I expect the same of Aurorastar." Blackclaw had said.  
"Why do we explain ourselves? We aren't the one who started it all." Rockpaw rolled her eyes.  
"Oh, but we were." Blackclaw turned to face his apprentice, "We were the ones getting the extra warriors."  
"That's true..." Rockpaw pouted, "But that doesn't explain why the attack. They could've done their own recruiting system."  
Blackclaw sighed, "I don't know. Oakstar can be very unreasonable sometimes... And his deputy encourages it."

- ~*~ -

Zero had gotten the name "Frostpaw", which made sense because his pelt was white. Rockpaw couldn't walk with him, though.  
At the Gathering, they were to walk with their families. So that means getting stuck with Ripplekit, Blizzardclaw, and Rainfoot. Rockpaw padded on the right side of Blizzardclaw while Ripplekit was positioned in the middle of Blizzardclaw and Rainfoot.  
_What a way to say "I hate you because you're not perfect."_ Rockpaw rolled her eyes.  
Right next to her family was Icewing's, which made Rockpaw feel equally happy because they could sneak quiet conversations.  
Almost all the Clan had come. A few elders attended, but most stayed at the camp. The queens who were expecting kits were to stay back with Berrywhisker and Cloudpaw. There were a small amount of warriors and apprentices who stayed behind, because Berrywhisker still needs to treat them. Skypaw and her parents were one of them. Cloudpaw had to stay, and Skypaw didn't want to go because Cloudpaw was staying, so_she_ stayed. Their parents also stayed because they actually love the two.  
Rockpaw had found the action cute and wanted to cry. Frostpaw padded by himself, but was later accompanied by Blackclaw. _Handsome, talented, and caring!_ Rockpaw wanted to cry at that part, too. She still hasn't gotten over the blushing whenever she sees him doing something nice.  
_At least they're making conversation._ Rockpaw looked enviously at Frostpaw and Blackclaw, both of them drowned in their conversation.  
They had arrived.  
The cats had to jump on the large rock plateau that was sitting lazily for thousands of moons, ever so slowly shrinking.  
Tigerstep's mate was Breezewhisper, who was a beautiful and slender pale she-cat. But that still doesn't explain the reason why Icewing's pelt was white.  
The two families stuck together because they were related by blood, after all.  
Aurorastar sat alone in the middle, right behind her was the deputy, Willowstream. Aurorastar let out a quiet sigh.  
They waited. And waited. And _waited._  
Nothing.  
Willowstream and Blackclaw was getting worried. Aurorastar had suggested a patrol to go check.  
Finally, figures of cats was spotted in the horizon.  
But there were only five.  
"Five cats..." Willowstream narrowed her eyes. Her eyes were the best in the Clan after all, "All have injuries. Three are limping badly. Two... are apprentices."  
"I smell blood... Lots of it." Blackclaw looked alertingly at his leader. The five cats were getting closer. Now every cat could smell the blood.  
"Blackclaw, Blizzardclaw, Tigerstep, Willowstream, and Brightdapple, support the five." Aurorastar turned back to her remaining Clanmates as the patrol of five departed, "This Gathering is canceled."

"Cloudpaw! Skypaw!" Rockpaw raced to the camp as fast as she could.  
"Rockpaw! Already back?" Skypaw was first to greet her. Frostpaw came behind Rockpaw.  
"No... there's five injured cats coming from OakClan. Tell Berrywhisker, quickly!" Rockpaw urgently meowed, following Skypaw as they bolted through the camp.  
Frostpaw had gone the way they came, to tell Aurorastar that Berrywhisker has been notified.  
"Berrywhisker! OakClan's cats are hurt!" Skypaw echoed the message Rockpaw delivered.  
"How many?" Berrywhisker looked up from his pile of herbs.  
"Five." Rockpaw answered immediately.  
Berrywhisker heavily sighed, "StarClan knows if I have enough herbs..."  
"Here they come!" Cloudpaw looked out the medicine cat den opening.  
The patrol earlier was helping the five, carefully padding at the pace that wouldn't hurt the _already_ hurt cats. The two apprentices had fainted. In Blackclaw's grip was the she-cat that attacked her before. Rockpaw narrowed her eyes. _I didn't make _that_ much of a scar, did I?_  
"_Leafshine?!_" Berrywhisker exclaimed, going to a dappled brown she-cat that Tigerstep was helping, "Where's Birdpaw?" He looked urgently around, then took a pale apprentice from Blizzardclaw's mouth, "Thank you for your help, Blizzardclaw. Tigerstep, please carry Leafshine into my den with me."  
"If Leafshine's hurt... Then something terrible is going on." Icewing's voice said beside Rockpaw.  
"Leafshine?" Rockpaw said, puzzled.  
"She's the medicine cat of OakClan and loved by every cat because of her optimistic personality... No one's seen such a gentle cat. But for her to get hurt like this..." Icewing shook her head in dismay, "How would you feel if Berrywhisker was hurt?"  
Rockpaw gave no reply. _The whole Clan would be caring for him... but in this case... OakClan just kicked the five out..._  
"Today's been a rough day." Blackclaw joined in, "Please, all of you, go to sleep. That's enough action. If you sleep, the kits will sleep."  
Rockpaw looked at the nursery. Ripplekit and all the others were either begging to go outside, or practicing their battle moves.  
"See?" Blackclaw smiled a bit.  
"Good night, Rockpaw." Icewing bent down to touch noses with Rockpaw.  
"Good night, Icewing." Rockpaw returned the same gesture as Icewing padded away.  
Blackclaw chuckled, "Good job." And he gave Rockpaw a lick on her forehead. _Good thing it was night time... Because I'm pretty sure I'm blushing like crazy!_

"_WHAT?!_" The purple-eyed wolf thundered, "THERE WAS _TWO?!_"  
"This was not in our predictions..." A gray wolf shook his head shakingly, "This was not supposed to happen..."  
"_Make something that would benefit us from it!"_ shouted the purple-eyed wolf again.  
"That would take energy, sire." The gray wolf said grimly, "And we haven't had one of those lately."  
"I thought we made a deal with the Underlord." The black wolf growled.  
"Darkius, we all know that the Underlord can sometimes be lying." the gray wolf sighed.  
Darkius chuckled venomously, "The Underlord cannot best me. My powers have become unimagineably immense. I even had the Gaze a millisecond after the damn witch and that Goddess's..."  
The gray wolf continued, "I will talk to the Underlord. To see why his souls are not collecting."  
"Good. Because..." Darkius grinned, his white fangs revealing, "_She's_ already on the job."

Rockpaw blinked. The first thing she saw was jet black. Nothing. Void of light. Yet she could see herself. Rockpaw was confused. She started walking around a bit, like if she could get anywhere.  
A chuckle echoed the black abyss. Rockpaw stopped abruptly, narrowing her eyes. As she stared ahead, yellow eyes stared back at _her._  
"Who... are you...?" Rockpaw cautiously asked.  
"That's easy, darling." The eyes didn't move, "My name is... Nightflower."

"...She came." The General whispered.  
"Our descendants also unite." Commander X murmured, "I wonder...?"  
"I don't think so. But it's quite expectable." The General answered.  
"All we can do is wish and watch, huh?" Commander X chuckled.  
"Yes." The General smiled, "Hope for best... that she doesn't know about the eyes."

"Why are you coming to me?" Rockpaw asked firmly.  
"Because you are special." The eyes grew larger, indicating that something was padding Rockpaw's way.  
"How am I... _special?_" Rockpaw froze.  
The black abyss suddenly turned into a white world, revealing a black figure with the yellow eyes.  
Rockpaw's eyes took a moment to adjust. "Nightflower?"  
The black cat nodded. "I heard you needed some assistance."  
"With?" Rockpaw tilted her head.  
"I think you already know." Nightflower smiled. But it wasn't a happy smile.  
Rockpaw gave no reply. _I'm fine by myself..._  
_You aren't._  
Rockpaw focused on the black cat in front of her, "You..."  
"Yes." Nightflower nodded, "I can indeed read your thoughts. And let me kindly remind you. Your mother."  
The two words echoed in Rockpaw's mind. "How?"  
"But in order to get to your mother, we need some practice." Nightflower chuckled.  
"Practice?" Rockpaw echoed.  
"Oh, dear." Nightflower shook her head, "I better start from the beginning. You want to get to the point where you want to kill your mother... your sister... and your father... correct?"  
Rockpaw gave no reply. She knew much. Too much.  
"But before that, I've got to give you good practice." Nightflower continued, "To actually do that sort of thing."  
"I can hunt and fight well. You saw what I did to my opponent." Rockpaw argued.  
"Yes... and that was _pathetic._" Nightflower spat.  
Rockpaw knitted her brows. _Why was she talking to this witch?! She should understand that-_  
"I do understand, Rockpaw." Nightflower strictly said, "But you have more potential hidden beneath you. The Clan of yours isn't bringing it out, that's for sure. That's why... I'm here."  
"To bring out my potential?" Rockpaw asked.  
"Yes, and to teach you how to use it correctly." Nightflower padded closer, "Because you aren't doing a good job of it."  
"...Then what is my potential?" Rockpaw asked again.  
"Your eyes, darling." Nightflower grinned.

"She knows." The General said grimly.  
"And the dream... ends here." Commander X sighed.  
"What we've been watching... is the Devil's Arrival."


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9: Hope Still Remains  
**I TOLD YOU. I TOLD YOU CHAPTER 8 WAS GOOD. IT WAS SO GOOD. SO GOOD.**  
Announcements: Um, do you guys want a video of Angella and Pink fighting? w  
Key  
Normal  
_Thoughts_  
"_LOL_" = Change of voice tone (usually deeper)  
_[ : ]_ = Camera movement  
" : " = Quotations... Duh.  
**blah **= Author's note  
* * * = TIME WARP  
- ~*~ - = Flashback Start/Stop  
[*InsertStrangeSymbolHere] = Mid-note, see matching symbol in description for explanation. Recommended that upon sight, scroll down to description.

* * *

"OakClan... has been taken over by a force that is threatening to all cats: Rogues." Aurorastar started the Clan meeting, "Oakstar's deputy, Eagleflame, is one of the rogues. Now, we always knew he was hiding something. Just not this.  
"Leafshine is recovered and doing well, by the help of Berrywhisker. And she has the confidence to tell of this horrendous tragedy.  
"While she was gathering herbs, she heard conversation exchanged between two cats: Eagleflame, and Oakstar. They were talking about our recruiting system and how it was unfair that we get all the new cats. Eagleflame demanded a surprise attack. Oakstar refused. And that was Eagleflame's last straw.  
"Eagleflame has been wanting the position for a long... long time. And I guess he could wait no more. He killed Oakstar on the spot. Leafshine had been very careful to keep quiet and get out as soon as possible. She told Stoneshadow and Ravenbreeze, the two best friends she had been with since forever, about Eagleflame's actions.  
"Leafshine thought she had gotten away with it... But she was wrong. Eagleflame knew what she saw, what she witnessed. There were few rogues in the Clan with warrior names. He called her and his roguemates out to beat down Leafshine. Stoneshadow and Ravenbreeze stepped in to help, but they were outnumbered. Stoneshadow and Ravenbreeze share the consequences.  
"Eagleflame then halted the beating, and Leafshine was to deliver a message to me. No... To all of us. That he was going to destroy AuroraClan, whatever it takes.  
"But we got a weapon that he doesn't. We know how to recruit. He does not. Our Clan is closest to the Twolegplaces. His isn't. We've got _StarClan_ on our side. _He doesn't._ So, he can dream all he wants... But AuroraClan will not be defeated!"  
The Clan roared in agreement. Frostpaw and Rockpaw almost yowled the loudest.

"It has that much power, huh?" Commander X chuckled.  
"Indeed." The General nodded, "Darkius must've known how souls play an important part in all puppet shows."  
"The Underlord is being stubborn... I thought he was better than this." Commander X snarled a bit.  
"Relax, good friend." The General smiled, "This puppet show is only the start of the horrible things he has in mind."

Deep in the Kingdom of Ferelle, a snow leopard with ice blue eyes was standing on one of the highest mountain ranges. She stood, looking into the distance, her silver hair flowing in the frost wind. She closed her eyes gently, and chuckled.  
"Since when was I ever a God?" She whispered. Smiling at the sky, "What wish do you have now?"  
It was a while before the snow leopard replied. She looked solemnly down, her eyes weary, "...That's a pretty high... But-Fine." She sighed. "Look, about the alternate self... I was at fault."

Frostpaw countered, rearing on to his hind paws. That was his downfall.  
Rockpaw dodged quickly and gripped onto his paw with her jaws and brought him down with her, stepping on the his paw that she gripped onto, "Heh."  
"Excellent." Blackclaw smiled.  
"Grr..." Frostpaw growled.  
Rockpaw got off him, grinning with victory. _I hope I impressed Blackclaw! He always impresses me... I want to be even._  
"Good job anyway, Frostpaw." Tigerstep purred, "Let's spend extra long on the sessions to beat Rockpaw, hm?"  
"Definitely." Frostpaw said, with confidence in his voice.  
Tigerstep had been appointed Frostpaw's mentor. Tigerstep was pretty brutal with fighting himself; he only got away with three tiny scratches on the surprise attack. Not even Blackclaw or Blizzardclaw topped that. _But still, Blackclaw did such an amazing job!_  
"Our session is over, Rockpaw." Blackclaw stood up.  
It was sunhigh, and Rockpaw's session started at dawn. They were supposed to end when it was near sunhigh. But Blackclaw allowed the extra time because Frostpaw had challenged Rockpaw. And she won.  
"A long time ago." She added, still grinning.  
"You can hunt a few mice for your family if you wish." Blackclaw smiled and padded off.  
_If Blackclaw suggests it... I should._

* * *

"Today, we start off with the basics." Nightflower began, "What makes a warrior?"  
"A warrior... honor and generosity?" Rockpaw guessed, tilting her head to the side.  
"Incorrect." Nightflower shook her head.  
"Um... Talent and Determination?" Rockpaw guessed again.  
"...Almost there." Nightflower shrugged.  
Rockpaw closed her eyes tightly and tried to think of other characteristics, but most of them were like the first two. Finally, Rockpaw shook her head, "I... don't know."  
"Of course you don't, dear." Nightflower smiled, and started padding around Rockpaw in slow circles, "An _average_ warrior are all the words you managed think of inside your head. A warrior in mine and the Underlord's eyes are much different.  
"A warrior is someone who truly wants power. Ambition. They've got to have it if they want everyone to obey them. A warrior's goal is to pursue that power, to tear anyone who dares to come close to interfering... regardless of their relation or feelings to that entity.  
"Tell me, Rockpaw... Do you respect Aurorastar?" Nightflower stopped, and studied Rockpaw's face for a moment.  
"...Of course, Nightflower... she's my leader." Rockpaw answered.  
"Indeed she is... And do you feel that Aurorastar respects _you?_" Nightflower asked again.  
"I..." Rockpaw started. But she didn't know how to finish the answer. _What am I to Aurorastar?_  
"Exactly the question you should be asking yourself, my dear." Nightflower said, "What are you to her? How did she treat you? Did she treat you like a normal apprentice? Or did she treat you..."  
Nightflower lowered her head down to whisper into Rockpaw's ear, "...like an outcast?"  
Before Rockpaw could answer, the black abyss, along with Nightflower, disappeared.

"Greetings, Yuuka." The General smiled.  
The snow leopard was padding toward the center of the T-Shaped building, now spotted with blood and particles of dust.  
"General, I'm not a God." Yuuka ignored her greeting.  
"I know you aren't, but having a descendant is a pretty high honor." The General chuckled.  
"...Even so... How will I deal with her?" Yuuka sighed, "I don't know the first thing about guiding other beings... I just grant wishes... Acacia was so much better than me..."  
"Don't you go having doubts on me." The General narrowed her eyes at Yuuka, "Acacia passed the duty to you. Do you want to fail her that bad?"  
Yuuka gave no reply to the question, "But the Commander has a descendant also. That being can guide the Creator... You two being friends as Gods and descendants must be strengthening the bond."  
"No... You're forgetting one thing, Yuuka. The being that started this all." The General murmured.  
Yuuka nodded, knowing the answer, "The alternate..."  
"Yes..." The General closed her eyes gently for a few seconds, then open them to study Yuuka's, "You... were at fault?"  
Yuuka nodded again, "Your wish... To have nothing happen to Rockpaw that can make her die... and your price of healing... was too much."  
"Too... much?" The General knitted her brows, "Anything I offer you for the past... forever has been too little, but that was too much?"  
"Precisely..." Yuuka said, warily, "At first... I thought the price was perfect. Balanced. But back in my den, I found out it was a little bit more than the desire. Your healing ability not only affects you, it affects others in contact with you. If your healing was only for yourself, the price would've been really balanced.  
"I thought nothing of it, and pushed the it away into the price dimension. And then... the price had its own mind and created the alternate... I swear, I had no idea..."  
"No, I know it's not your fault." The General had to stop her. Yuuka was on the edge of tears.  
"Rockpaw and the alternate aren't blood related, but they are chain related. What happens to Rockpaw happens to the alternate. What the alternate experiences will have effects on Rockpaw. But the thing is... Its personality isn't like Rockpaw's." Yuuka tried to hide her fear.  
"What happens if they..." The General didn't have to finish.  
"If they meet... It's going to be the end."  
"Hello, ladies." A muscular voice echoed the halls.  
"King Keigo." The General smiled toward the main entrance.  
Padding toward them was another snow leopard, but his eyes were amber. His spots were easily recognized, unlike Yuuka's.  
"King Keigo." Yuuka echoed, bowing.  
"No need for such manners." He smiled warmly toward the young wish granter.  
Yuuka straightened, "I need to go back to my den. There are some things I want to confirm."  
"I wish you good luck." The King said as Yuuka padded out.  
"She knew you wanted a private talk." The General shook her head, smiling.  
"Yes." Keigo admitted, "About... Zero... Frostpaw."  
"Tell me more."  
"He isn't just a character in the background... I'm his ancestor."

"One more moon..." Rockpaw murmured as she watched Ripplekit play fight with her new friend, Mosskit, "...until she becomes an apprentice."  
"What are you ominously murmuring about?" Frostpaw's voice mimicked hers as he sat down close to Rockpaw.  
"Nothing." Rockpaw smiled at him, "Just watching my sister... play fight."  
"I think she's going to be strong like you. Or more strong than you." Frostpaw shrugged, teasing.  
"If she's stronger than me it's because she has encouragement." Rockpaw flicked her ear to the entrance of the nursery.  
Rainfoot padded out along with Mosskit's mother, Leafspeckle. They proudly cheered their own daughter on and giving them advice.  
Frostpaw nodded comprehendingly, "I heard your opponent's in the camp."  
"I'm going to pay her a visit." Rockpaw stood up, "You coming?"  
"No." He looked up at the sky, "It's dusk. Tigerstep's waiting."  
"Ah." Rockpaw chuckled, "Train hard. Or else I have to beat you again."  
"Won't happen." He countered, and left.  
_Now for my opponent..._  
Rockpaw padded toward the medicine den. The warriors recovered fine, but the two apprentices weren't. Berrywhisker, Cloudpaw, and Leafshine were doing their best.  
Rockpaw didn't want her opponent to die. Now that she had learned the truth behind the surprise attack, she became more sympathetic toward her enemy.  
"Berrywhisker?" Rockpaw asked as she poked her head through the entrance.  
"He and Cloudpaw's gone to get some more herbs." the medicine cat called Leafshine replied.  
"Oh. Thanks. Can I... Can I see a cat in here?" Rockpaw asked hesitantly.  
"Of course." Leafshine nodded, but Rockpaw could sense the confusion in her eyes, "But be careful."  
"I will." Rockpaw promised as she set her paws into the den. _There she is!_  
Laying down on the nest was her opponent, six fang like markings, specks on her hind legs, and two horizontal stripes across her each of her front paws.  
Rockpaw wasn't sure on how to approach the seeming dead apprentice.  
"What do you want?" The apprentice meowed suddenly, scaring the fur out of Rockpaw.  
"I... You... The battle..." Rockpaw stammered.  
"I was your opponent, I know." The apprentice meowed, opening her eyes. She sat up, her teal blue gaze tearing into Rockpaw's.  
"And... the OakClan incident..." Rockpaw said, awkwardly.  
"Yeah. I know." The apprentice meowed emotionlessly, "You don't have to be shy toward me. I know I was your opponent and all, but you're the one with the advantage."  
"...What's your name?" Rockpaw asked.  
"I'm Swiftpaw, and almost eleven moons old. Yours?" Swiftpaw smiled.  
_Such a pretty smile... it's sad that OakClan turned out like this..._ "It's Rockpaw. And I think I'm ten moons old. Time goes so fast in the warrior life, I can't keep track."  
Swiftpaw purred, "In the warrior life... You're saying you're from somewhere else?"  
"Yeah." Rockpaw studied her paws, ashamed, "I used to be an alleycat."  
"Cool!" Swiftpaw's eyes widened.  
"Y-You really think so?" Rockpaw started to smile.  
"Yeah!" Swiftpaw bounced up and down in her seat, "Sometimes... all you do is hunt, eat, and sleep here. Life outside the Clans seem interesting."  
"I-It isn't _that_ interesting..." Rockpaw argued.  
"Is so!" Swiftpaw countered.  
"Keep it quiet girls, or you can go outside. Swiftpaw, your brother needs the rest." Leafshine meowed.  
"Sorry." Swiftpaw meowed in a hushed voice, then lowered her head to the other apprentice's, "I'm gonna leave... Rest well."  
Rockpaw looked in sympathy as she felt the love Swiftpaw expressed to her brother. _It must be nice to have a sibling care about you..._  
Swiftpaw joined Rockpaw as they padded outside.  
"He's your brother?" Rockpaw asked.  
"Yeah... His name's Shadowpaw. At the day Eagleflame took over OakClan... was also the day Shadowpaw was going to be a warrior..." She meowed sadly.  
"I shouldn't have asked that..." Rockpaw shook her head in shame.  
"No, it's okay." Swiftpaw smiled, "It's nice to have someone to talk to. My parents are gone talking to Aurorastar. She seems to be a very fitting leader."  
"How did your parents treat you?" Rockpaw meowed, suddenly interested in Swiftpaw's background.  
"My parents? They were the best parents you could ask for. They treat me and my brother with equal love. But sometimes, I think Shadowpaw's gotten more." Swiftpaw giggled.  
"It must be nice... Having a family who cares about you." Rockpaw's paws carried her to the apprentice den, and she sat down.  
"Why? What's wrong?" Swiftpaw sat down next to Rockpaw, tail touching Rockpaw's shoulder.  
"My parents... they wouldn't care if I lived or died. My siblings are scattered around all over the place." Rockpaw sighed.  
"Your parents... who are they?" Swiftpaw looked around the camp.  
"Rainfoot..." Rockpaw pointed her tail to her mother, "...and Blizzardclaw." She swiped her tail to the edge of the camp where Blizzardclaw was taking a patrol with him.  
"...They seem pretty happy." Swiftpaw meowed, confused.  
"With my sister." Rockpaw casted a glance toward Ripplekit, "Ripplekit's been their favorite since birth."  
Swiftpaw nodded, "Well, I'm sorry to hear that. If you have anything to say, remember to say it to me. I will listen to your rants, okay?"  
Rockpaw grinned at Swiftpaw, "Thanks. This is the first time I've really poured out my emotions."  
"Anytime." Swiftpaw stood up, "I gotta get back. These wounds are starting to hurt."  
"Sorry... I kind of got caught away with it..." Rockpaw quickly apologized.  
"Relax." Swiftpaw giggled, "Most of them aren't even yours."

"...They met." Commander X smiled.  
"Indeed. Isn't it like how we met?" The General agreed.  
"Some things never change." Commander X shook her head and let out a small chuckle.  
"...I wonder if the alternate has someone like that, too." The General said, more seriously.  
The Commander nodded, knowing the answer.

"...They unite." Darkius growled.  
"But the relation between Nightflower and Rockpaw in impenetrable. Nightflower knows Rockpaw like no one else." The gray wolf from before argued.  
"Nonetheless, their ancestors have a stronger relation. Going back to when Feran was just a newling. And animal growth was just starting." Darkius countered, "I fear that this may go against what we predicted."  
"Darkius," the gray wolf sighed, "Nightflower was made to fit Rockpaw's personality. Nightflower will surpass Swiftpaw."  
Darkius chuckled, "What will you do now... _General?_"


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10: Destiny  
**Was Chapter 9 a filler? o.o I can't help thinking that it is.**  
Announcements: None? For now?  
Key  
Normal  
_Thoughts_  
"_LOL_" = Change of voice tone (usually deeper)  
_[ : ]_ = Camera movement  
" : " = Quotations... Duh.  
**blah **= Author's note  
* * * = TIME WARP  
- ~*~ - = Flashback Start/Stop  
[*InsertStrangeSymbolHere] = Mid-note, see matching symbol in description for explanation. Recommended that upon sight, scroll down to description.

* * *

"Regarding my eyes..." Rockpaw started.  
Tonight was the second night of training. Rockpaw wasn't sure on what's on the schedule, but she hopes it's not as tiring as the last one.  
"Yes." Nightflower waved her paw around, "I forgot to inform you. I said that your eyes are special, correct?"  
Rockpaw nodded.  
"Well... Let me put it all into one sentence. Your eyes can abduct souls."  
"...Souls?" Rockpaw echoed, confused.  
"Yes. All kinds of souls. Animal souls, nature souls, even godly souls." Nightflower's eyes grew wide, "And that's how we will gain our goal."  
"...We?" Rockpaw was getting worried.  
"Yes." Nightflower leaned closer, "Unless you don't want my assistance?"  
Rockpaw didn't reply.  
"Now, back to our topic before I was interrupted." Nightflower looked to the black abyss, "Your eyes hold a tremendous power. My God, the Underlord, granted you that. He feels the same as you do. Neglected... Shamed upon... Why, he's almost just like you."  
_Just like... me?_  
"Precisely." Nightflower sighed, "His family hated him. Just like your family hates you. He knows what you're going through, darling."  
Nightflower extended a paw and dragged Rockpaw next to her, comforting the poor gray apprentice, "That's why he granted that power to you. So you won't feel powerless... like he was.  
"Every God in this world despises him. Because he's the bringer of death and misfortune. It's his background that brought him that... But the others won't accept the story. They insult him and criticize him and wished he never existed.  
"And... another reason he blessed this power upon you... was because he wants to make someone happy for once."  
Rockpaw found this hard to take in. _But all of it makes sense..._  
"It is sense, Rockpaw." Nightflower replied, sadly, "The Underlord only wants you to be happy. Because none other than you can understand his situation."  
"But... you were the one explaining this to me." Rockpaw looked up.  
Nightflower leaned closer, and prodded a paw on Rockpaw's nose, "But you're living it."  
Rockpaw remained silent.  
"Now... do you have a new motivation to fight and train harder?" Nightflower asked.  
"Yeah." Rockpaw stood, more confidently, "I will live up to the Underlord's power... to learn to harness it and use it properly... to make him, too, happy."  
"That's a warrior." Nightflower smiled.

Angella choked on her drink. Her coughs echoed the hallway, loud and clear.  
"What..." She said, still choking a bit, "What in the world..."  
"So... Darkius also gave it another talent..." The General said, licking hers, "...Lying."  
"Wow. That is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard." Angella scoffed.  
"It makes the story seem so real. I might even believe in it." The General sighed.  
"The Underlord... _having parents._" Angella continued, "It's... I can't..."  
The General blinked, "...Fire can turn to Ice... Ice can turn to Fire..." She murmured.  
"...The fourth line of the prophecy..." Angella looked at the General, "Is this exactly it?"  
"...A lie turning to truth... and the truth..."  
"To a lie." The two said in unison.  
"This isn't good." The General shook her head.  
"But keep in mind... That may or may not be the meaning." Angella noted.  
"You're right..." The General sighed, "It's up to the future to determine that."

"...Why did you..." A gruff voice echoed the hell fire hall.  
Behind Darkius was a huge black mass, its eyes were as red as rubies, glinting and set on flames. Its horns stretch far out to the hot atmosphere.  
"To make it more believable, brother." Darkius grinned slyly, "After all, lies are as deadly as any weapon."  
The black mass grunted, not replying.  
Darkius knew his statement was correct. _The Underlord is so focused on the trophy..._ Darkius chuckled silently,_That he doesn't even know who's competing anymore._  
"So... I can't make the dead live again, huh?" Darkius looked up, his purple eyes glinted with a passion of hatred, "...Destiny?"

Rockpaw was on patrol that sunhigh with Swiftpaw, Rosefur, and Stoneshadow. She was glad to patrol with her new friend, Swiftpaw. But she had suspicions of Rosefur.  
Rockpaw had sensed that Rosefur had a very aggressive aura, and tried her best to do whatever it is to evade her. Rosefur was the white and yellow dappled cat from one of the first recruiting sessions, the one that was pregnant.  
Rosefur had a miscarriage. Rockpaw found it hard to persuade Rosefur into eating when she gave her her mouse. Rosefur was that sad. But Rockpaw can't stop thinking that Rosefur wants to kill someone.  
But today, Willowstream called Rosefur into the patrol, and Rosefur gave no sign of rejection. _Maybe she needed time to walk out into the wilderness..._  
After they were done marking the borders, Stoneshadow suggested they hunt for while. Everyone agreed, and split up.  
_Nightflower and the Underlord's watching over me... Surely they'll see me in action and be impressed!_ Rockpaw smiled, and trusted her nose to lead her to her victim.  
And it did. Rockpaw found a mouse busy nibbling on its food. Rockpaw remembered the advice that Blackclaw gave her.  
_Make sure the wind is blowing against you. And check that there are no obstacles in your way like sticks and stones. Do that, and you'll be successful._ His husky voice echoed through Rockpaw's head.  
Rockpaw took a step forward, with all the caution she can muster. Until she was a couple of mouse-lengths away, she pounced.  
Before Rockpaw could catch it, she crashed into another cat. Rockpaw withdrew and covered her forehead with a paw. She opened one eye to look at the cat.  
"What-" Rockpaw stopped midway and stared wide-eyed at the cat.  
It was Rosefur.  
Rosefur caught the mouse, but didn't execute the final blow. Instead, she just released her paw and let the mouse go.  
Rockpaw watched it escape in mixed emotions, and whipped her head to face Rosefur's.  
When she faced around, Rosefur's face was almost touching hers.  
"What..." Rockpaw whispered, still astonished by Rosefur's actions.  
Rosefur chuckled and struck Rockpaw across the face with her paw, claws unsheathed. Rockpaw landed on the ground, three red marks running across her left side of her face. Rockpaw steadied herself, and blinked her right eye at Rosefur.  
"What... What do you want from me?" Rockpaw hissed, knowing her senses were right.  
Rosefur said nothing, but lunged at Rockpaw again.  
Rockpaw dodged to the side, and scratched Rosefur across _her_ face with her own claws.  
_If that's how you want to play... Bring it!_  
Rosefur ignored the attack and leapt on top of Rockpaw, pinning her down. Rosefur opened her jaws and went directly for Rockpaw's neck, but Rockpaw sunk her teeth into Rosefur's paw first.  
Rosefur withdrew in agony, blood streaming out of the marks Rockpaw left. Rockpaw charged for Rosefur while she was in her vulnerable state. But Rosefur struck across Rockpaw for the second time, sending Rockpaw skidding across the dusty ground, disturbing the sleeping sand.  
After the dust cleared, Rosefur padded over and put a paw on Rockpaw's neck, rolled Rockpaw over so she can whisper in the apprentice's ear.  
"Stay out of my way." She said, venomously. Then she chuckled and left, leaving Rockpaw having to stare at her tail, lashing in victory.

Angella was about to make a comment when the sounds of pawsteps heading their way with urgency echoed the halls.  
The General stood up, "Yuuka!"  
The white snow leopard padded up to the golden lioness, "I have bad news."  
Angella yawned, "Tell me in the morning, Jenny. I need to go rest." She stood up to go.  
The General flinched at the nickname, but kept her eyes on Yuuka, "What is it?"  
"The descendant... is attached to me... literally!" Yuuka said freakishly.  
"...How?" The General asked.  
"If I move... then she moves. If I stop... then she stops." Yuuka explained.  
"...The voodoo function..." The General looked to be side, "I guess I gave you the price too generally."  
"I'm not a God, General." Yuuka reminded her.  
The General sighed, "I really am sorry, Yuuka..."  
"No, it's okay." Yuuka smiled, "I am kind of glad I have some other role to play..."  
"Does the descendant talk if you talk?" The General asked.  
"...Yes..." Yuuka admitted, slowly.  
"Yuuka, about Keigo..." The General sighed again.  
"Yeah... I know. He is also Frostpaw."  
"And you two being twin siblings..."  
"The rules apply to him, too."  
Like if it was a command, Keigo started padding in.  
"General, the Guilds are very unhappy." Keigo said, urgently.  
"...How unhappy?" The General asked.  
"The Chaos and even Order is demanding to know about what's going on... Neutral is the only one with no certain side." Keigo explained.  
"Even Order, huh?" The General shook her head, "We must keep this a secret as low as possible. If we let them know, the whole planet will be searching for Rockpaw."  
"Precisely. That's why I gave them nothing." Keigo looked to Yuuka with an understanding gaze.  
"Keigo... you didn't tell me you were connected to Frostpaw." Yuuka said.  
Keigo smiled casually, "I didn't want to worry my sister."  
"You two will meet, won't you?" The General guessed.  
Yuuka and Keigo nodded.

"Rosefur is a fine apprentice, sire." Nightflower said.  
"You tested her against the Creator." Darkius replied, void of expression.  
"...I did." Nightflower hesitated before she answered.  
"I have no comment about that action." Darkius continued, "But Rosefur is capable of things, isn't she?"  
"Yes. She has power inside her, I am certain." Nightflower didn't dare looking at his purple eyes.  
"...That's what I made you for after all." Darkius grinned, and placed a paw under Nightflower's chin and lifted her head up to meet his eyes, "And you're doing a fine job."

"Rockpaw, are you okay?" Swiftpaw padded next to Rockpaw at the fresh kill pile, bringing her own prey to eat with Rockpaw, "Want to share?"  
Rockpaw nodded, "Yeah, I'm okay. It's just thorns, don't worry."  
Swiftpaw narrowed her eyes, "Whatever thorn it was, it's pretty mean."  
Rockpaw giggled, "Yeah... I'm glad Rosefur helped out though, even though she had some brutal markings herself.  
Swiftpaw nibbled at the rabbit, and Rockpaw joined in.  
_Why does she want to hurt me? Why_ did _she hurt me? And what did she mean by... _'Stay out of my way'?  
All the questions Rockpaw want answered so badly must wait until nighttime. _Maybe Nightflower knows... She knows everything!_  
"Aurorastar!" Tigerstep shouted from the entrance of the camp.  
"She's not here. Out on hunting patrol." Willowstream swiftly landed down seemingly from nowhere, but she just... was there.  
Tigerstep sighed, "We've got two kittypets."  
"What do they want with us?" Willowstream immediately replied.  
"They said they wanted to meet up..." Tigerstep looked at Rockpaw, "...With Talia."  
Rockpaw widened her eyes as all attention turned to her.  
_Whoever it is... I hope it's not Uncle Ben..._  
Rockpaw gulped and stood up, not sure how she should react.  
"...Come in." Tigerstep meowed, not glancing back.  
A kit about Rockpaw's size appeared first. Her pelt was all white, with russet eartips and gentle amber eyes.  
Second to come was...  
_Tony?!_  
"Tony?" Rockpaw tilted her head, "Echo? What... What are you doing here?"  
"Talia!" The white cat faced Rockpaw, "My mother passed away..."  
"Echo?" A new voice joined the conversation.  
"Haydi!" Echo exclaimed.  
Rockpaw turned around to see Rainfoot, staring in disbelief at Echo, "Where's your mother?"  
Echo gave no reply, but turned back to Tony, as if begging him to answer because she couldn't.  
"...Uncle Ben came a few quarter-moons ago..." Tony started, his ears drooped, "...and brought a few friends. They... They completely obliterated Coconut Groove."  
Rainfoot continued to stare in shock, as if she couldn't believe what was happening, and this was all a lie.  
But Rockpaw could tell from the urgency in Echo's voice that this wasn't a lie. This was real. Coconut Groove no longer existed.  
"What about..." Rockpaw didn't need to complete the question.  
"They... all died... in Ben's paws." Tony looked to the side and closed his eyes tightly.  
Echo couldn't take it anymore as she bursted into tears, sobbing like she didn't care where she was. Rockpaw quickly sat next to her and tried to comfort the poor cat.  
Swiftpaw padded over and did the same, casting a helpful smile to Rockpaw. Rockpaw returned the smile back as she licked Echo's ear.  
"Are you hurt?" Berrywhisker pushed his way through the crowd that had assembled, and started sniffing Tony.  
"Yes... A little." He turned his right flank toward Berrywhisker. What Rockpaw saw wanted to make her mouse go out the way it came in.  
Three long, wretched scars ran across his flank, red, but healing steadily.  
Berrywhisker shook his head, "Come, come. This... 'Ben' did a really mean job." He then led Tony to the medicine cat den, where Cloudpaw helped him get Tony fixed up.  
"You're not hurt, are you?" Swiftpaw asked Echo.  
"...No... and thanks for being there by me." Echo blinked at Swiftpaw, then looked at Rockpaw, "Thank goodness you're still alive, Talia... Everyone thought you got lost and... died..."  
"Well, I am pretty much in flesh." Rockpaw answered, "And the name's Rockpaw... Not Talia."  
"Rockpaw... That's..." Echo didn't have to finish the sentence.  
"Yeah, I know." Rockpaw chuckled, "This is Swiftpaw. She's my new friend."  
Swiftpaw smiled sweetly at Echo, and Echo returned the smile.  
"So... are you staying here now? Since your mother... passed away?" Rockpaw asked.  
"I guess so. There's no place else to go." Echo shrugged solemnly.  
"Echo." Rainfoot interrupted, "I need to talk to you."  
Echo reluctantly stood up and said good-bye to Rockpaw and Swiftpaw to follow Rainfoot.  
"It must be really sad..." Swiftpaw murmured, "...to lose a mother..."

That night, Rockpaw was looking forward to talking to Nightflower again. She had to find out about Rosefur... and now!  
The black abyss stretched before her, but there was no Nightflower.  
"Nightflower?" Rockpaw called, "Where are you? We need to talk!"  
No reply.  
Rockpaw sighed and looked around. _As if that helped..._  
"Over here." A voice echoed behind Rockpaw.  
"Nightflower, there you a-" Rockpaw stopped as she turned around.  
It wasn't Nightflower.  
It was a gigantic cat with golden fur and pale wings against her sides, rivers of sky blue streaming across its fur. Its blue eyes connected with Rockpaw's intensely.  
"Who..." Rockpaw began, but she had no courage to finish the rest.  
"Rockpaw... How I've long to see you..." The big cat said, taking a pawstep toward Rockpaw, but immediately jerked back, as if something prevented her from doing so.  
"What do you want with me?" Rockpaw said, defensively.  
The big cat said nothing, only staring at Rockpaw with a sad gaze.  
"Who are you?" Rockpaw took a step forward, more stern with her voice.  
"Just call me..." The big cat smiled, "...Destiny."

* * *

The link for chapter 10 side-story: art/Chapter-10-5-The-Gemini-Omen-394674835?ga_subm it_new=10%253A1377022487


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